Indonesia: Omnibus Law could benefit global agribusiness giants

Audio 01:53

Orangutan in Borneo Forest in Indonesia (illustrative image).

AP / Fauzy Chaniago

By: Gabrielle Maréchaux Follow

5 mins

In Indonesia, a law ratified in early October is likely to bring happiness to the giants of the global agrifood industry.

Omnibus Law, as it is called, aims to lower legal requirements for employment and the environment in order to attract foreign investors.

For biodiversity advocates, this is very bad news.

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The world's third primary forest sacrificed on the altar of globalization and liberal measures.

For Indonesian environmental actors, this is essentially what the ratification of the controversial Omnibus Law means.

Because to attract foreign investors, the current government has considerably relaxed the legal requirements for ecosystem protection.

For example, it renounces requiring that each Indonesian province keep at least 30% of forests and imposing environmental impact studies which are now only compulsory for projects presenting so-called "high" risks.

He finally abandons the strict legal responsibility for companies having fires on their concessions.

And if the president of the association of Indonesian palm oil producers welcomed this new legislation, environmental players believe that these new measures will not have positive impacts for this industry.

Because consumers around the world are increasingly aware of the issue of deforestation.

This awareness had made it possible to begin to face this serious problem, for example an NDPE standard was put in place.

NDPE for in French “ 

 ”.

Ratified by 83% of the country's refineries, it had reduced the number of hectares burned by ¾ each year since 2017, according to the NGO Mighty Earth.

These requirements had also been beneficial for exports to a large consumer EU, but increasingly scrupulous on issues of deforestation.

But this legislative backpedaling risks again tarnishing the reputation of Indonesian palm oil.

Indonesian forests seem to be well on their way to continuing to burn, the NGO Sustainable Madani Foundation estimates that the regions of South and East Sumatra could completely lose their virgin forest within 30 years.

And in the streets of Indonesian cities in recent weeks, the anger of protesters opposed to Omnibus Law also continues to ignite.

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• Indonesia

• Environment