Palm Oil: An Environmental Hazard or a Sustainable Source of Income
Follow the guidelines based on the "Objects of Concern: Palm Oil"
GUIDELINES FOR OBJECTS OF CONCERN FINAL PAPERS
Your final Object of Concern paper will examine the problems and prospects of your “object” in more depth using three of the analytical lenses/frameworks covered in the first five weeks of class: market-based solutions, environmental hazards and risks, environmental justice, political economy, social constructions of nature, and environmental discourses. One should be the framework you presented in class. The other two can be inspired by your other group members but developed further by you. Final papers should be individual work. Feel free to share ideas and sources within your group, but ultimately the content of the final paper should be a synthesis of information and ideas that is uniquely yours. Suggested Structure Introduction: Introduce the object, its importance to the world we live in, and the “environment and society” issues that are most strongly associated with it. Framework One Explanation and Analysis* Framework Two Explanation and Analysis Framework Three Explanation and Analysis Conclusion: Briefly assess the future of your object, its potential contributions and drawbacks (if a technology or product), and potential solutions (if primarily an environmental problem). *Use your own subheadings and a logical sequence of frameworks so that the paper has “flow” and develops a coherent argument or position on your topic. Formatting Length: Papers should be about 6 pages long (1.5 spacing, 1 inch margins, excluding References), including at least two illustrations (graphs, images). Use and placement of illustrations: One or two medium-sized images can count toward the total page length. Larger or additional images should be placed in an Appendix at the end of the paper (after your References page). All illustrations should be captioned, properly sourced, and referred to in the text of the paper. Use original subheadings to structure your paper and provide clarity for your readers. These should correspond to the above suggested structure. Place your Works Cited or References on a separate page at the end of the paper (but before an Appendix if using one for additional images). Please use APA citation format. Proper citations are essential! See my “Primer on Proper Citation Practices” and the link to an APA Guide. Please use APA citation format not MLA. Chicago style footnotes are also welcome.
Palm Oil: A Source of Environmental Concern or a Sustainable Source of Income
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Palm Oil: An Environmental Hazard or a Sustainable Source of Income
Introduction
Palm oil makes for one of the products whose production raises divergent views across the social, political, and economic domains worldwide. Among divergent views around the production of palm oil are its implications on the environment against its economic value along the supply chain to the end users. Palm oil is one of the widely used edible fats in developing countries made from the fruits of oil palm trees. Oil palm trees only grow in the tropical climate or the tropics and produce high-quality palm oil. The oil palm tree is a source of two types of oil based on which part of the fruit it is extracted. The flesh of the oil palm fruit produces palm oil while the seed provides palm kernel oil. Palm oil is mainly used for cooking in developing countries, with a wide range of uses in other economic sectors. For instance, palm oil makes for one of the key ingredients in the production of detergents, cosmetics, biofuel, and other food products. Indonesia and Malaysia are the biggest palm oil producers in the world, accounting for 84% of global palm oil production (Ritchie, 2020). It suffices, therefore, that palm oil creates greater yields and more economic value across the supply chain than alternative vegetable oils in the market. Its production and global demand are on the rise leading to the rise of more plantations in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. The rapid expansion of plantations exposes the tropical forests and their inhabitants, including human beings, to the catastrophic effects of climate change due to deforestation and other social issues such as poor working conditions and trading terms for small-scale farmers. This paper explores the aforementioned divergent views on palm oil production through three analytical frameworks; market-based solutions, environmental hazards and risks, and political economy.
Market-based Solutions
The increasing demand and production of palm oil globally account for widespread expansion initiatives by multinational corporations and small-scale farmers. Such expansion initiatives for oil palm plantations lead to rapid deforestation in different countries by both large-scale and small-scale farmers (Ritchie, 2020). The rapid expansion of oil palm plantations in palm oil-producing countries is also characteristic of social issues such as land conflicts, human rights violations, and labor issues. For instance, in Indonesia, only 1 million hectares of indigenous land is recognized as acquired land for plantation expansion out of the approximately 70 million hectares of land grabbed by corporate organizations in palm oil production. Such corporate land grabbing leads to the internal displacement of people in Indonesia, such as the Dayak people in Borneo (Ritchie, 2020). The intense expansion initiatives also and the quest for satisfying the rising global demand for palm oil further leads to the adoption of unethical labor practices in palm oil plantations. Palm oil plantations account for approximately 200,000 stateless child workers. Such occurrences in the rapidly increasing palm oil production call for the adoption of effective interventional measures to address the diverse social issues arising from economic activity.
The market-based approach offers an excellent platform for addressing the highlighted issues concerning the rapidly increasing palm oil production worldwide. Market-based solutions to the problems arising from the increased palm oil production demand an integrated approach involving all the key stakeholders involved in the sector. Oil palm producers, consumer goods manufacturers, banks and investors, palm oil traders or processors, and social and environmental NGOs must combine their efforts to establish and ensure adherence to ethical standards and practices in palm oil production (Ethical Consumer, 2023). Market-based solutions such as boycotting palm oil and its subsidiary products by consumers would play a significant role in promoting the adoption of environment-friendly practices in palm oil plantations. Consumers and other environmental NGOs may develop a grading rubric for all palm oil-producing entities against their efforts in conserving the environment in the production process.
The boycott would adversely affect the diverse entities across the palm oil supply chain and thus exerting more pressure for the adoption of environment-friendly practices from the plantations up to the end users. Boycotting the product would also apply in dealing with the social issue of unethical practices by the corporations running oil palm plantations in all the countries producing palm oil. Identifying corporations and small-scale plantations benefitting from unethical business practices and starting a boycott campaign of the products will lead to pressure from other affected parties across the supply chain and thus effecting positive changes in the operational activities in palm oil production. The outlined market-driven solutions would effectively address the issues raised by palm oil production as they affect the profitability of all the stakeholders involved and thus creating a system of self-regulation. It also promotes adherence to the standard operating procedures for environmental conservation and ethical labor practices.
Environmental Hazards and Risks