From 2001 to 2018, Indonesia lost 9.27 million ha of tree cover in primary forests, leading to a total of 4.97 Gt CO₂ emissions, and furthermore contributing to deforestation. According to the World Resources Institute’s Global Forest Watch, oil palm plantations seemed to have been the largest single driver of deforestation, resulting in 23% of deforestation in Indonesia.
Land clearing for palm production of primary forest and peat land leads to dramatic land use changes and can count for up 72% of total emissions in palm oil production. Excluding emissions derived from deforestation, during the production of crude palm oil, emissions are primarily generated from Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME), fertilizer use into the palm oil plantation and the use of diesel for transport and machinery. Emissions arising from operations during oil palm growing and fresh fruit bunches (FFB) processing count for up to 28% of total emissions in the sector. Of these, emissions from POME account for 71%, fertilizer emissions for 23% and transport emissions for 6% of all operations’ emissions (and they represent respectively the 20%, 6% and 2% of total emission in palm oil production).
