Palm oil black campaign and boycott threat were rife in European Union in the middle of this year on the allegation that palm oil industry did not meet the principles of environmental sustainability and conservation.
"Boycott is not a proper solution to this issue. The proper solution is to develop sustainable management (plantation) technique and conduct certification," he said in a press conference here on Thursday night.
He said the French government supported the Indonesian government`s policy to rearrange the management of palm oil industry by imposing a moratorium on licensing oil palm plantations and making Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) certification mandatory.
The policy should be encouraged because since ISPO was made mandatory in 2011 only 2.349 million out of 14 million hectares of oil palm plantations have been certified, with total crude palm oil (CPO) production reaching 10.2 million tons per year.
Lemoyne discussed the issues of palm oil, green economy and renewable energy with Indonesian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Ignasius Jonan as one of his agendas of his visit to Indonesia.
He also warmly welcomed the Indonesian government`s policy on the mandatory use of 20 percent blended biodiesel (B20) as alternative environmentally friendly fuel,
In addition, the B20 policy will also enable Indonesia to save foreign exchange earnings and reduce carbon emissions and environmental destruction.
"We realize that palm oil is very important for the Indonesian economy, while at the same time we must continue to promote the policy which supports sustainability to fight against deforestation and environmental destruction," he said.
Reporting by Yashinta Difa Pramudyani
Editing by Suharto
Reporter: antara
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
