The effort was intended to give a comprehensive understanding to the Norwegian public about the description and contribution of the sustainable palm oil industry towards efforts to achieve the targets of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Indonesia, the Indonesian Embassy in Oslo said in a statement, on Sunday.
The conference was opened by Norway`s Deputy Minister of Climate and Environment, Atle Hamar, and presented speakers from among others the RSPO, EPOA, UNDP, Rainforest Foundation Norway and WWF Norway, as well as multinational companies ST1 and Nestle.
The conference was also attended by participants from the Norwegian parliament, government, business circles, NGOs and the Media.
In his presentation, the Indonesian Ambassador in Oslo stated that Palm Oil is one of the strategic industries that can push forward the achievement of SDGs targets in Indonesia.
Apart from that, the existence of the palm oil industry is essential for the economy and welfare of the Indonesian people, so that the Government of Indonesia is committed to managing the palm oil industry in a sustainable manner and in line with environmental preservation for the present and future generations.
While Agus Purnomo in his presentation underlined that a comprehensive perspective on the palm oil industry is required and not to apply "selective-logging" in the vegetable oil industries.
The focus of the current debate should be looking for ways to make the palm oil industry sustainable, while still taking into account environmental sustainability. As it is now done by GAR / Sinar Mas by managing oil palm in a sustainable manner.
A concrete example: GAR / Sinar Mas is not any longer opening new land sites to meet increasing market demand, but it is upgrading existing land, among others by way of optimizing production through the use of superior palm oil seeds.
As one of the largest palm oil producers in the world, the spreading out of negative issues and campaigns against palm oil has greatly harmed the Indonesian palm oil industry.
Indonesia`s active role (through representatives of the government, national oil industry and all relevant stakeholders) in various international fora is a positive and constructive effort in addressing the issue of palm oil which has been widely misunderstood by the general public.
The conference was held in conjunction with the session on the preparations for the Norwegian National Budget in the Norwegian Parliament (Stortinget) so that it was hoped to be a counterweight to inaccurate information which was often echoed by NGOs and local / international mass media, such as linking palm oil with the issue of deforestation, palm oil and the issues of carbon / water related to the damaging of peatlands, and palm oil which is often suspected to be the cause of extinction of various biodiversity, particularly destruction of orangutan habitat.
At the end of the presentation the Indonesian Ambassador to Oslo stressed that it was time for Indonesia to take seriously and make real efforts to fight the negative issue / campaign by opening the eyes of the world to the facts and progress that had been achieved in the field.
The Indonesian government is strongly committed to maintaining environmental sustainability while still providing space for the sustainable palm oil industry for the welfare of the Indonesian people.
Reporter: Azis Kurmala
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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