Introduction On 28-29th November 2023, an international conference on “Just Transition in the Palm Oil Industry” was held in Sambas, West Kalimantan in Indonesia. The conference was attended by 140 participants, mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Cambodia,...
International Conference on Just Transition in Palm Oil Industry: Meeting Report
In the 21st Century, the palm oil industry is still characterised by serious ecological and social problems. Despite many roundtable discussions and transnational campaigns, production is still based on large-scale monocultures, land- grabbing, and on the exploitation...
Join the Conference on Just Transition Online
Inviting you to the 2023 International Conference of Just Transition in the Palm Oil Industry
Just Transition in the Palm Oil Industry: International Webinar
Term of Reference Background The palm oil industry is booming for several reasons, especially the need for investment to increase economic growth. With the paradigm of economic growth, the government sees that the palm oil industry is able to absorb labor and generate...
Just Transition in der Palmölindustrie: Welche Rolle können Arbeiter*innen bei einer sozial-ökologischen Transformation spielen?
Die Palmölindustrie trägt wesentlich zur Klimaerwärmung und zum Artensterben bei. Die ständige Expansion immer neuer Monokulturen in Indonesien, Malaysia und zunehmend auch in Afrika und Lateinamerika zerstört den Regenwald. Die dafür angelegten Waldbrände sind eine...
Just Transition in the Palm Oil Industry – Part 3 (end)
A Just Transition perspective would integrate ecological sustainability and social justice. Photo: Worker’s helmet and fresh fruit bunch, North Sumatra, Indonesia © RAN/OPPUK/Nanang Sujana. Steps towards a Labour Perspective on Just Transition We have seen how...
Just Transition in the Palm Oil Industry – Part 2
The palm oil industry is plagued by land conflicts. Photo: Indigenous farmers block a road to a palm oil plantation and ritually spill pig’s blood in West Kalimantan, Indonesia © Irendra Radjawali Mosaic Landscapes as a Transformative Vision for the Palm Oil Industry...
Just Transition in the Palm Oil Industry: A Preliminary Perspective
What could a socially and ecologically just palm oil industry look like? Worker load fresh fruit bunches into a truck, North Sumatra, Indonesia © RAN/OPPUK/Nanang Sujana. Oliver Pye, Fitri Arianti, Rizal Assalam, Michaela Haug, Janina Puder[i] The palm oil...
Recent Post
Sambas Declaration for Just Transition in the Palm Oil Industry
Introduction On 28-29th November 2023, an international conference on “Just Transition in the Palm Oil Industry” was held in Sambas, West Kalimantan in Indonesia. The conference was attended by 140 participants, mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Cambodia,...
Creeping in Silence: Summer Postcard with Love
It has been six months since we distributed the postcard at the International Just Transition Conference in November 2023, now this postcard is ready to be delivered to you through this website. These postcards will bring you to TPOLS research findings on safety and...
Beyond Health and Safety: The Struggle of the Alienated Body and the Emergence of New Forms of Worker Organization on Palm Oil Plantation
Since the colonial era, health has been an integral part of labor control, as seen on palm oil plantations. Today, these agri-capitalist factories, operating in multinational contexts, continue to benefit from this mechanism of control, degrading workers’ bodies...
Beyond the Red Circle: Notes on a Palm Oil Plantation Union Meeting in Indonesia
In September last year, I attended a group discussion with workers organised by a branch of SERBUK (People’s Labour Union) at a palm oil plantation company in the Sambas Regency of West Kalimantan Province, Indonesia. It was the first gathering of union members...
The Catastrophe that Flows Like Water: The Centrality of Water Issues for a Just Transition
The issue of heavily polluted water in palm oil plantation zones has severely affected local families and workers. Despite water issues appearing like a mundane problem, the communities near these plantations suffer from diseases caused by toxic rivers. According to...