Spatial Dataset

Global

Agriculture (oil palm)

Data Use Agreement

Remote Sensing, Land Use Change Analysis, Document, Field Survey

25

4429

December 2019

August 2022

Biannually (6 months)

3.59 GB

KML, XLS, SHP, GEOJSON

Commodity-driven deforestation and peatland loss are some of the main drivers of climate change and biodiversity loss, and are significant GHG sources. In an IPCC report published in 2022, it is estimated that agriculture, forestry and other land use contributed to 22% of the total anthropogenic CO₂ emission. In Indonesia and Malaysia alone, our research in October 2022 found that 305,143 ha of forest and 395,312 ha of peat were cleared by 296 palm plantation company groups during 2016-2021, which correspond to around 455 million tons of GHG emission. 

Many businesses have benefitted from non-compliant development and illegal land clearing, and growers, millers, refiners, traders, processors and end users all share the responsibility to offset the harm caused. While businesses pledge to become net zero or carbon neutral, assessing past liability helps to assess the integrity of these commitments and hold all parties accountable. 

This dataset uses satellite imagery and concession mapping to show past liability as the total loss of forests and peatland to oil palm plantations since 31st December 2015. Users can see the total amount of land cleared by individual company groups, visualize a recovery plan for implementation, and facilitate securing of social forestry rights to respective local communities.

This dataset includes:

• Monthly updates and delivery of liability assessment on the supplier group level.
• The total loss of forests and peatlands at the global level, weighted against their intrinsic values such as carbon content & biodiversity.
• Historical supply base data from 2016 until current year.