'Source of Destruction' or Target of a 'Trade War'? Competing Narratives on the Palm Oil Industry in Indonesia

This paper discusses how non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and palm oil companies in Indonesia are employing different narratives to shape state policies related to the palm oil industry. There are two conflicting narratives in the country's palm oil industry-related policy making process: (i) the ‘source of destruction' narrative constructed by the NGOs; and,(ii) the ‘trade war' narrative propounded by Indonesian palm oil companies and their associations. The source of destruction narrative calls for more control of the business practices of palm oil companies, including halting the expansion of palm oil plantations to stop deforestation, while the trade war narrative portrays this demand for more government control of their business practices as an instrument of trade war that is being used by developed countries to protect the competitiveness of their vegetable oils in the global market. Both narratives have shaped the Indonesian government's policies on palm oil. The source of destruction narrative influenced discussions on the Law on Prevention and Eradication of Forest Destruction and successfully pushed the government to enact a moratorium on forest conversion. The trade war narrative has also successfully blocked important demands from NGOs, such as their call for a review of existing concession permits within the mechanism of the moratorium. The trade war narrative also led to the establishment of inter-ministerial coordination for organised counter-campaigns against the anti-palm oil campaigns of NGOs. It even prevailed on the government to include palm oil as an agenda item in Indonesia's economic diplomacy. However, the influences of the two competing narratives have given rise to ineffective and divergent government policies with conflicting aims and goals. To build an effective policy related to the palm oil industry, policy actors, especially the government, would need to build a consolidated narrative that can bridge both these narratives. Such a metanarrative is not impossible