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...
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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...
Thousands of Indonesian and Filipino Migrant Workers in Sabah, Malaysia Continue to be Arrested Despite the Pandemic
Photo: View on border area between Sebatik island and Nunukan island in North Kalimantan. Documentation: TPOLS (2020) Press Statement 30 August 2021 In Sabah, Malaysia, thousands of migrant workers and their families continued to live in fear of raids. They hide in...
Recent Post
TPOLS Release for Just Transition Conference #2 (2024): Unsustainable Palm Oil Business
In 2024, the TPOLS Secretariat gathered insights from our network members, revealing alarming trends in the palm oil industry. This summary highlights some of the most pressing issues, showcasing the destructive practices of palm oil companies that cannot be ignored....
Creeping in Silence: Occupational Health and Safety in Palm Oil Plantation
What distinguishes a headache resulting from health issues from one that stems from poisoning symptoms? Could this illness be more than mere misfortune, potentially linked to the hazardous working conditions in oil palm plantations? What actions should we take if...
Sharing Session between Labour and Environmental Movements toward Transforming the Palm Oil Industry
The area of oil palm plantations in Indonesia, based on the data from the Ministry of Agriculture, increased from 14,9 million hectares in 2022 to 16,38 million hectares in 2023. Meanwhile, according to Sawit Watch, based on the given licenses the area of oil palm...
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...