Indonesia
INDONESIA TO BE THE FIRST TO USE NEW EU TIMBER CERTIFICATION
10/03/2016
Update Volume
46
Update Issue
27

The European Union’s Forest Law Enforcement, Governance, and Trade Action Plan is a trade policy intended to reduce the importation of illegally logged timber and to promote sustainable, legal forest management. In 2013, after 6 years of negotiations, Indonesia signed a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) under the Plan, agreeing to export only verified legal timber products. This past spring, Indonesia entered the final stages of fulfilling its VPA requirements, and in November it will become the first country to export licensed wood products to the EU.

INVESTIGATION FINDS INVESTOR-STATE DISPUTE SETTLEMENT UNDERMINES ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS
09/19/2016
Update Volume
46
Update Issue
26

The Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) is an international arbitration procedure inserted into thousands of international treaties as a means to resolve disputes between countries and the foreign corporations operating within them. The system is written into thousands of trade and investment treaties, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership. But according to a BuzzFeed News investigation, under typical ISDS provisions, only companies are permitted to bring suit against the countries in which they work; countries cannot sue corporations.

INDONESIAN SEAWEED FARMERS SUE THAI PETROLEUM COMPANY
08/08/2016
Update Volume
46
Update Issue
22

On August 3, seaweed farmers from Indonesia sued the Thailand company PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) for more than $152 million. The lawsuit was launched in Sydney's Federal Court and would cover damages from the worst Australian oil spill, which occured in 2009 when an explosion at PTTEP's Montara drilling rig spilled approximately 30,000 barrels of oil into the Timor Sea over the course of 74 days. Lawyers arguing the case say that the spill reached as far as Nusa Tenggara Timur in Indonesia, a distance of 124 miles. The case is funded by the UK-based Harbour Litigation Funding.

MALAYSIAN PALM OIL COMPANY CHALLENGES CERTIFICATION SUSPENSION
05/16/2016
Update Volume
46
Update Issue
14

The Malaysian palm oil giant IOI Group has filed a lawsuit against the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. RSPO suspended IOI Group’s sustainability certificate in March for causing suspected environmental harm in Indonesia. IOI can no longer sell the RSPO-brand “Certified Sustainable Palm Oil”—a brand preferred by certain companies. IOI Group says that it has been “unfairly affected” by the suspension of its certificate. Large companies such as Unilever, Kellogg, and Nestlé canceled contracts with IOI.

PALM OIL COMPANY SUSPENDED FROM SUSTAINABILITY CERTIFICATOIN IN INDONESIA
04/18/2016
Update Volume
46
Update Issue
11

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil has suspended IOI’s certification, preventing the Malaysian palm oil company from selling future palm oil as certified sustainable. The decision has come after years of documented violations of human rights and environmental destruction by IOI and will cause huge economic losses to the company. In fact, many of its 300 clients, such as Unilever and Kellogg’s, have already canceled their contract or want to cease to source palm oil from IOI.

INDONESIAN CITIZENS SUE ACEH GOVERNMENT TO SAVE RAINFOREST ECOSYSTEM
01/25/2016
Update Volume
46
Update Issue
3

A 2013 spatial plan exposed Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem to industrial development by the Aceh Government. Nine Aceh citizens filed a class action lawsuit last week against the plan, calling it illegal and requesting that Jakarta fulfill its promise to revoke it. The Leuser Ecosystem is one of Sumatra’s last intact rainforests.

INDONESIA LOSES CASE AGAINST COMPANY ACCUSED OF BURNING, SEEKS TO APPEAL
01/19/2016
Update Volume
46
Update Issue
2

Four months ago, Indonesia’s Supreme Court ordered a palm oil grower to pay $26 million for damages to the forest in Aceh, but last week, a different palm oil company was acquitted of a similar crime in a district court. PT Bumi Mekar Hijau was on trial for $574 million in fines for failing to prevent or intentionally lighting hundreds of fires across 20,000 hectares of land. The lawsuit is expected to reach the Supreme Court. Critics of the acquittal wanted to see more emphasis placed on the human aspect of the fires, which are suspected to have killed 19 people.

INDONESIAN PRESIDENT BANS PEATLANDS DESTRUCTION
11/16/2015
Update Volume
45
Update Issue
32

The President of Indonesia banned the clearance and conversion of carbon-dense peatlands in Indonesia, including in existing concession areas. Additionally, the government has required the blockage of peat drainage canals through a series of instructions given over the course of the past few weeks in hopes of raising water tables. This decision comes in face of the recent fires that have sent approximately 500,000 people to the hospital, polluted the skies in Indonesia and neighboring countries, and released close to 1.7 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere.

SINGAPORE CLOSES SCHOOLS DUE TO AIR POLLUTION
09/28/2015
Update Volume
45
Update Issue
27

On September 25, Singapore closed all primary and secondary schools, as well as kindergartens run by the Ministry of Education, due to high levels of air pollution. The sharp decline in air quality and persistent smog come from Indonesian forest fires. According to the National Environment Agency of Singapore, the three-hour pollutant standards index reached 320 on September 24, exceeding the maximum threshold of 300. The haze from the Indonesian forest fires has already led Singapore to cancel certain outdoor events and change flight schedules this past month.

INDONESIA SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS $26M FINE TO OIL PALM COMPANY FOR CUTTING AND BURNING FOREST
09/21/2015
Update Volume
45
Update Issue
26

The Supreme Court of Indonesia upheld the Environment Ministry’s charges of $26M in fines and reparations against palm oil company PT Kallista Alam. PT Kallista Alam had disputed the three-year-old charges for cutting and burning forested areas of the Tripa peat swamp region in Aceh Province. In addition to monetary punishment, the Attorney General’s office filed criminal charges against PT Kallista Alam.

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