PRESS RELEASE Ahead of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) Annual Meeting in Jakarta

The Recurring Forest and Land Fires Expose the Failure of Sustainable Palm Oil Commitments: RSPO Must Be Held Accountable

JAKARTA, 3 November 2026 – The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is once again holding its Annual Meeting on 3–4 November 2026 at Swissôtel Jakarta PIK Avenue, Indonesia. At its 26th Annual Meeting, RSPO has adopted the theme “Strong Foundation: Impact in Action”, with one of its key areas of discussion being a zero-tolerance policy towards land burning in the palm oil industry.

This presents an irony that has fuelled public outrage, as numerous corporate plantation concessions and palm oil industry areas continue to experience recurring forest and land fires, triggering deadly haze disasters. The haze crisis has even escalated into transboundary haze pollution, deteriorating air quality, threatening public health, and disrupting economic activities in several countries across the ASEAN region, including Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, and the Philippines.

Forest and land fires within oil palm plantation concessions in 2026 are by no means a new disaster. They have been occurring since the 1990s and have recurred periodically over the past four decades. Forest and land fires and the resulting haze disasters have occurred in 1997, 2015, 2019, and 2023, and have once again returned between August and October 2026, with a scale and impact broadly comparable to those experienced in previous decades.

Satya Bumi’s analysis indicates that oil palm plantation concessions belonging to RSPO members have experienced forest and land fires covering an area of 3,753.63 hectares. Approximately 110 RSPO members across 19 provinces have been identified as having areas affected by fires, with the highest number recorded in West Kalimantan Province, involving 25 members. Of this total, 78.87 hectares are located within orangutan habitats, while 1,505.85 hectares are situated within peatland ecosystems.

At the national level, a total of 6,888.63 hectares of habitat belonging to endangered and critically threatened wildlife, including orangutans, were affected by forest and land fires between January and August 2026. Of this area, 78.3 per cent constitutes habitat for Bornean orangutans.

Riezcy Cecilia Dewi, Campaigner at Satya Bumi, stated:

“These figures may appear relatively small compared to the total area affected by forest and land fires nationwide, which has reached 637,000 hectares. However, given the sustainability certification label and RSPO’s own commitment to the principle of zero burning, this should be treated as a serious concern.

“The RSPO certification scheme does not automatically eliminate the risk of forest and land fires. RSPO must also be held accountable for areas within its members’ concessions that experience fires, in accordance with the principle of strict liability, or absolute liability, even when the source of the fire originates outside the areas owned by RSPO members.”

The recurring forest and land fires and resulting haze disasters not only destroy forests and land, accelerate deforestation and forest and land degradation, damage peatland hydrological systems, and threaten biodiversity, including endangered wildlife such as the critically endangered orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus). They also cause serious social and economic disruptions, undermine people’s livelihoods and economic activities, and increase occupational safety and public health risks, particularly for workers in large-scale plantations and the palm oil industry.

The Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS) estimates that the total economic losses and healthcare costs resulting from forest and land fires between January and August 2026 range from IDR 39.29 trillion to IDR 123.1 trillion. These figures do not yet account for the possibility of fires spreading further towards the end of the year.

According to data from the Indonesian Ministry of Health, as of 21 October 2026, the cumulative number of Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) cases associated with forest and land fires had reached 333,470 cases. This includes 258,298 cases among people over the age of five and 75,172 cases among children aged 0–5 years. The affected areas cover 68 regencies and municipalities across seven provinces: West Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, South Sumatra, Riau, and Jambi. Meanwhile, estimates from WALHI National indicate that more than 850,614 people have been affected by acute respiratory infections (ARI).

Ahmad Syukri, Executive Director of Link-AR Borneo, stated:

“Forest and land fires in West Kalimantan have made local communities the primary victims. The government’s failure to address this ecological disaster constitutes a form of ecocide that threatens people’s lives and destroys the environment. Meanwhile, companies that are RSPO members and promote sustainability have failed to demonstrate their commitments. We demand that companies found responsible for forest and land fires be held accountable and undertake environmental restoration to address the damage they have caused.”

Rizal Assalam, Coordinator of the Transnational Palm Oil Labour Solidarity (TPOLS), stated:

“There are forms of coercion imposed on workers by companies, even if they do not always occur directly or through conventional means. Through the no work, no pay system, workers have little choice but to continue working even when forest and land fires are occurring and environmental conditions pose serious risks to their safety. Oil palm plantations have become hazardous workplaces for workers, particularly when their occupational safety and health are not treated as a priority.”

“After a decade, RSPO should have brought about meaningful change, rather than merely serving as a source of sustainability legitimacy for the industry. Instead of carrying out its independent oversight function, RSPO has become little more than a public relations instrument for greenwashing by the government and the industry.”

Saiful Wathoni, Secretary-General of the National Executive Board of the Agrarian Reform Movement Alliance (PP AGRA), stated:

“The RSPO Annual Meeting this year should have strategic significance, considering that it is taking place amid ongoing forest and land fires. It should therefore produce meaningful recommendations in line with the principles of No Burning, No Land Grabbing. However, such an outcome appears difficult to achieve, given that this Annual Meeting is sponsored by companies with links to the very forest and land fire crisis under discussion, including Sime Darby, Golden Agri, Nestlé, and others.”

“The state must impose firm sanctions on companies responsible for forest and land fires. These sanctions must go beyond administrative penalties and include stronger legal measures, as well as mandatory compensation for victims, covering health-related, social, and economic losses.”

Therefore, in response to the RSPO Annual Meeting taking place on 3–4 November 2026 in Jakarta, Indonesia, we, the civil society organisations participating in this peaceful protest, hereby declare, demand, and call for the following:

First, RSPO must reaffirm and enforce its Principles and Criteria for Sustainable Palm Oil, particularly those concerning Respect for Human Rights and Communities, Protection of Workers’ Rights and Working Conditions, and Responsible Management of the Environment and Ecosystems.

Second, we call on the Government of President Prabowo Subianto to review all permits in the plantation and palm oil industry sectors, including a halt to the issuance of new permits. The government must reassess and revoke business licences and impose appropriate sanctions on companies proven to have engaged in forest and land burning and to be responsible for large-scale forest and land fire and haze disasters.

Third, all large-scale plantation and palm oil companies must assume the highest level of responsibility for addressing forest and land fires and the resulting haze disasters, and provide affected communities with fair compensation for social and economic losses, as well as violations of their right to a healthy environment.

Fourth, we demand the unconditional release of all smallholder farmers, Indigenous Peoples, and other community members who have been arrested, detained, or imprisoned on allegations of land burning.

Fifth, ASEAN, as an organisation bringing together countries in Southeast Asia, must strengthen its commitment to establishing regulations and legislation that recognise and uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment within a human rights framework, in accordance with international regulatory principles and standards.

Jakarta, 3–4 November 2026

Organisations endorsing this statement:

Aliansi Gerakan Reforma Agraria (AGRA)

Lingkaran Advokasi dan Riset Borneo (Link-AR Borneo)

Satya Bumi

Rasama Hijau Indonesia (RHI)

Transnational Palm Oil Labour Solidarity (TPOLS)

Gabungan Serikat Buruh Indonesia (GSBI)

Koalisi Buruh Sawit Indonesia (KBS Indonesia)