Eco-Business

Malaysia's plantation and commodities minister Johari Abdul Ghan at SWR 2025

Malaysia’s commodities minister is touting palm oil biomass as a coal alternative, while signalling a hard stance on deforestation. But experts warn that the full lifecycle emissions of biomass could exceed that of coal.

Investigative group Earthsight says the EU risks missing hidden violations by large commodity traders if enforcement prioritises easily checked small importers.

Verra-registered carbon credits generated by the Langkap Biogas Plant, which captures greenhouse gasses from palm oil wastewater, will be auctioned on the Bursa Carbon Exchange on 18 June at a reserve price of US$8.40.

Nearly half of Indonesia’s peatlands are vulnerable to flooding due to degradation from exploitation, with 6 million hectares (15 million acres) – twice the size of Belgium – highly at risk.

Thomson Reuters Foundation

By Hans Nicholas Jong

By Yanine Quiroz

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As the UN’s shipping regulator explores ways to decarbonise global shipping, biofuels aren’t the green alternatives they are portrayed to be. By Megan Morrissey

As Indonesia forges ahead with plans to become an advanced economy, an honest reckoning needs to occur, to ensure that it does not squander its vast environmental resources for short-term gain. By Melinda Martinus

A handful of fashion brands – H&M, Ralph Lauren, Decathlon and Adidas – are working to stop using coal to power their factories in 2025, while others are prioritising decarbonisation at lower levels of ambition. By Peter Ford

Sarawak's so-called green revolution is little more than a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Companies and the state government are operating in ways that not only devastate the environment but also marginalise remote Indigenous communities. By Fiona McAlpine

By Dr Pieter E. Stek

By Jack Hurd

By Siti Dina Razman Pahri

By Lifeng Fang

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Simon Lord and Pamela Mar on Sustainability One on One

In the first in a new video series where sustainability leaders interview each other about the toughest things about their jobs, Simon Lord of Malaysian palm oil giant Sime Darby Plantation went head to head with Pamela Mar of Hong Kong-based textile and apparel giant Fung Group.

EB Studio Smallholder fish farmers in rural Kalimantan are turning towards sustainability, with some assistance from an agribusiness company.

Jali, founder of transport cooperative Parung Jaya Cooperative, speaks to one of his drivers

EB Studio What does it mean to build a clean and fair palm oil supply chain? For drivers in Indonesia used to unsafe working conditions, this is what it could look like.

Daughter Riri Damayanti (left) and her father Syamsul Bahri (right) are colleagues at a palm oil company in South Sumatra.

EB Studio What has been the effect of this agribusiness company's dual-income policy on the households of its Indonesian workers?

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Podcast on RSPO's new principles and criteria for certifying palm oil as environmentally and socially sustainable.

EB Studio The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil has released new criteria for certifying responsibly grown palm oil. What's changed and how does RSPO respond to criticism that the new standard lowers the bar for deforestation?

EB Studio Transboundary haze pollution is back with a vengeance in Southeast Asia. The Eco-Business Podcast talks to RSPO CEO Joseph D'Cruz about what the palm oil sector can do to put out the peatland fires that have burned annually for four decades.

Palm oil farmers working with Natural Habitats

Some environmentalists would argue that there's no such thing as sustainably grown palm oil, because of the crops links to deforestation and human rights abuses. Eco-Business spoke to Monique van Wijnbergen about how palm can be done right.