• how palm oil sparked a row between europe and southeast asia in Cape Town
  • how palm oil sparked a row between europe and southeast asia in Cape Town
  • how palm oil sparked a row between europe and southeast asia in Cape Town
  • how palm oil sparked a row between europe and southeast asia in Cape Town
  • Where are oil palms grown?
  • Until the 1960s, oil palms were mainly grown in Africa, but since then production has shifted to south-east Asia: according to FAO statistics, Indonesia (42 % of global output) and Malaysia (36 %) are the leading producers, followed by Thailand (5.6 %), Nigeria (2.9 %), Colombia (2.2 %) and Ecuador (1 %).
  • Does the EU have a future for palm oil?
  • After issuing RED I in 2007 and enforcing a palm oil sustainability certification system, the EU has recently reached several drastic new decisions regarding the future of palm oil in the European Union that gravely upset Indonesia.
  • Why did the EU impose restrictions on palm oil?
  • The EU presented the restrictions as a climate-conscious policy aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting biodiversity. Indonesia — the world’s largest palm oil producer — contested the restrictions as arbitrary, discriminatory, and incompatible with WTO regulations.
  • Why did the WTO decide Indonesia's palm oil dispute?
  • In January 2025 , the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruled in favour of Indonesia’s legal challenge to the European Union’s (EU) restrictions on palm oil, which Indonesia said were unfair and detrimental to its exports.
  • Is Indonesia's palm oil a competitor to other plant-based oils?
  • Source: (Nugraha, 2019). Indonesia’s palm oil is the main competitor to other plant-based oils, such as Ukraine’s sunflower oil, China and U.S.’ soybean oil, and most importantly, the EU’s own rapeseed oil.
  • Will Malaysia and Indonesia phase-out palm oil in biofuels?
  • Diplomatic pressure from Malaysia and Indonesia intensified at the start of last year, when MEPs voted to phase-out palm oil in biofuels from counting towards the EU’s new renewable energy guidelines, which will take effect in 2020.