Miracle product or Climate Disaster? Why is Palm Oil Seen as a Driver for Development and for Deforestation
Authors
Christensen, Michael Mike ; van der Veen, Ytsen Hidde
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2022
Submitted on
2022-05-31
Pages
61
Abstract
Dette speciale undersøger, hvorfor palmeolie samtidig fremstilles som et mirakelprodukt, der driver økonomisk udvikling, og som en kilde til skovrydning, med særligt fokus på europæisk politik. Med EU’s reviderede Renewable Energy Directive II (REDII), der sigter mod at øge andelen af bæredygtig energi og at sikre afskovningsfrie importkæder inden 2030, tages Indonesiens palmeolie op som en enkelt-case for at belyse disse paradoksale diskurser. Undersøgelsen er kvalitativ og kombinerer et litteraturreview (med snowballing) inden for udviklingsteori, moderniseringsteori og økologisk moderniseringsteori samt FN’s Verdensmål, med et semistruktureret ekspertinterview om EU-politik og SDG’erne. Med afsæt i Hinkes’ diskursanalyse fokuserer specialet på to dominerende fortællinger: palmeolie som udviklingsdriver og som driver for afskovning. Analysen peger på tre hovedfund: (1) diskurserne sameksisterer, fordi EU og Indonesien prioriterer udvikling og bæredygtighed forskelligt i lyset af deres respektive udviklingsstadier; (2) potentialet for palmeolie som en bæredygtig vegetabilsk olie vurderes forskelligt i EU og Indonesien; og (3) der er uenighed om de standarder, der pålægges industrien. Som enkelt-casestudie giver specialet dybde frem for generaliserbarhed, men bidrager med en nuanceret forståelse af, hvordan globale klimaindsatser og udviklingsmål kan trække i forskellige retninger i palmeoliedebatten.
This thesis examines why palm oil is simultaneously portrayed as a “miracle” development product and a major driver of deforestation, with a focus on the European policy context. Against the backdrop of the EU’s revised Renewable Energy Directive II (REDII)—which aims to raise the share of sustainable energy and to ensure deforestation-free supply chains by 2030—the Indonesian palm oil sector is used as a single case to explore these paradoxical discourses. The study is qualitative and combines a literature review (using snowballing) across development theory, modernization and ecological modernization theory, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, with a semi-structured expert interview on EU policy and the SDGs. Building on Hinkes’ discourse analysis, it focuses on two dominant narratives: palm oil as a driver of development and as a driver of deforestation. The analysis points to three main findings: (1) the discourses coexist because the EU and Indonesia prioritize development and sustainability differently, reflecting their stages of development; (2) the potential for palm oil to be a sustainable vegetable oil is perceived differently in the EU and Indonesia; and (3) there are disagreements over the standards imposed on the industry. As a single-case study, the work favors depth over generalizability, offering a nuanced account of how global climate action and development objectives can pull in different directions in the palm oil debate.
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