New Indonesian President Prabowo Poses New Challenge to EU on Trade
Indonesia can do no right for tropical forests and climate change if you ask the European Union
- Palm oil from Indonesia has repeatedly been accused of driving orangutan extinctions while contributing to climate change at the same time.
- As global demand for electric vehicles and clean energy increases, Indonesia, which owns one the largest nickel reserves globally, is now being criticized for deforestation for nickel.
- The delay in the implementation of the EUDR has given Indonesia’s newly inaugurated President Prabowo Subianto time to confront the EU’s one-size-fits-all deforestation regulations.
- Key to his arguments should be that the EU cannot apply the same rule to rich countries like the US and poor countries like Indonesia with the same pen.
President Prabowo was Defence Chief under former President Jokowi and stepped up to the Presidency based on his election campaign where he made few concrete promises besides continuity with the popular former president.
Mainstream Western media has featured his ascension to President of Indonesia with insinuations that he has not moved on from his military past as if the Prabowo Presidency meant a decline of democracy in the world’s fourth populous country.
REUTERS reported his inauguration speech in detail which pointed out President Prabowo’s key mandates as President of Indonesia.
"They must be freed of fear, poverty, hunger, ignorance, oppression, suffering," he said.
In a wide-ranging speech lasting about an hour, Prabowo said self-sufficiency for food was possible within five years, while also pledging to become self-sufficient in energy.
The new president vowed to eradicate corruption and said that while he wanted to live in a democracy, it must be "polite".
With popular support behind him, President Prabowo is likely to lock horns with “Empress Ursula Von der Leyen” over the problem of her abuse of power in office.
Von der Leyen’s Green Deals which has popular support in the EU office, faces numerous challenges from India’s rejection of CBAM to MERCOSUR countries' challenges to EUDR.
President Prabowo has similarly strong arguments against the EU’s demands of green trade with Indonesia once all the factors are weighed.
Indonesia needs jobs also. Clear cutting of ancient tropical forests in Indonesia, home to orangutans appears to be acceptable for the EU as long as it benefits European industries.The EU wants deforestation- orangutan-extinction-threatening nickel from Indonesia so bad, it complained to the WTO that Indonesia is hurting EU battery jobs by withholding exports of nickel.
In comparison, the EU had no qualms about banning Indonesian palm oil from biofuel use in the EU as palm oil biofuels threatens European jobs in rapeseed and biomass industries.
Indonesia must reject the one-size-fits-all EUDR. The Indonesian government has been very vocal against the “country benchmarking” aspect of the EUDR as it is expected to place Indonesian products under heavy scrutiny for compliance.
Should the EU list Indonesia as “High Risk” for deforestation, then the EU should also list EU member state Sweden as “High Risk.” Failure to do so would expose double standards at the EU.
The thing about EU member state Sweden is that it's chopping down ancient European forests faster than deforestation in the Amazon. Indigenous herders are warning the extreme rates of deforestation in Sweden poses an ‘existential’ threat to Sweden’s reindeer.
Even Sweden’s environmental superstar, Greta Thunberg,has accused Sweden of being “very good at greenwashing” as she staged a protest along with about 50 other activists outside her home country’s parliament.
The Swedish timber industries have unsurprisingly echoed Indonesia’s discontent with the EUDR against the EUDR.
Erik Haara, CEO of the Swedish Federation of Wood and Furniture Industry, and Viveka Beckeman, CEO of the Swedish Forest Industries Federation, petitioned the Swedish government to pressure the EU to reject the new legislation, which “shoots high and crooked.”
According to Mr Haara and Ms Beckeman, the new rules impact more than 60,000 Swedish companies, with “the regulations covering more than the actual problem of deforestation.” Woodcentral
The bottomline here is that Sweden should be rated the same as “High Risk” for deforestation but if Indonesia ends up being blacklisted for deforestation as well, the EU must provide special considerations or revisions as Indonesia has demanded.
Discrimination against poor lesser developed countries
The thing is that it is unjust to compare Indonesia to Sweden based solely on what is happening to their respective forests. This well explains why Indonesia is standing firm in its criticism of the EUDR.
Coordinating Minister of The Economy, Airlangga Hartarto, said the European Union should cancel its country benchmarking on deforestation, where the commission will classify nations as high, standard or low risk in terms of compliance.
“The EU has no right to be a rating agency,”
Chairman for the Indonesian palm oil industry association, GAPKI, Eddy Martono was quoted as challenging the EUDR
“We will continue to advocate against which regulations are burdensome, or not in accordance with Indonesia’s law ... the EU should also understand our conditions,”
Minister Hartarto has further urged ASEAN leaders to be united and pro-active in responding to discriminatory policies at the 24th ASEAN Economic Community Council (AECC) Ministerial Meeting held in Vientiane, Laos.
The discrimination that Minister Hartarto spoke of is evident in an assessment of the EUDR by William Reinsch who holds the Scholl Chair in International Business at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
“These are all good ideas, and the motivation for them is sincere, but they are an easy demand for Europe and the United States, who have already built these values into their economies and social structures and have the resources to implement them. They are a much harder ask for developing countries trying to reduce poverty and create more jobs.”
Newly appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arif Havas Oegroseno, who was Indonesia's Ambassador to Germany prior to his new appointment in Prabowo's government is no stranger to Indonesia's stance against the EU's discriminatory policies against poorer countries. His opinion on the EUDR was clearly expressed in his presentation at the Third Sustainable Vegetable Oils Conference held in Rotterdam this September 10, 2024. Discrimination ranked first in his presentation of "7 Deadly Traits of EUDR". Download AHO-Rotterdam 3 SVOC
The presence of Hartarto and Oegroseno in his inner circle shows that President Prabowo has dug Indonesia in further to protect the interests of his country in open disregard of any protests against Indonesia's resource nationalism.
SDGs a better gauge for sustainability than deforestation risk
While it's justifiable for the EU to rank Sweden as “High Risk” due to its high rates of deforestation in recent times, the same rules cannot be applied to Indonesia due to one stark difference between Sweden and Indonesia. This would be Poverty levels and the relevance of agriculture towards meeting SDGs.
Agriculture contributed a mere 1.46% towards Sweden’s GDP. Within the same time period, agriculture has contributed an average of 13.00% to Indonesia’s GDP. The point is, Sweden can stop clearing ancient forests with minimal impact on its GDP but Indonesia cannot.
The loss of forests in Indonesia, whether for cocoa or palm oil or nickel, must be viewed through the lens of the Sustainable Development Goals for countries like Indonesia which lag far behind Sweden in providing for its citizens.
Once seen in the light of the SDGs, the historical deforestation of Indonesia maybe well worth it as the latest report on Indonesia’s efforts towards achieving SDGs shows that Indonesia with an achievement of 62.5 percent, is the most progressive country in realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target.
What is remarkable about Indonesia’s achievements towards the SDGs is the fact that forest area (% of land area) in Indonesia was reported at 48.36 % in 2021, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources.
As Indonesian Vice President Ma'ruf Amin celebrated Indonesia’s achievements in poverty reduction and stunting in toddlers, data from UNICEF shows that Indonesia has a long way to go towards meeting SDGs on the same level as Sweden.
As the EU buckles under pressure from its primary trade partners in the US and China, the new Indonesian government under President Prabowo is expected to take a harder stance against the EUDR to protect Indonesian jobs and goals towards the SDGs. Ursula von der Leyen may have built up the EU Commission to support her personal agenda but that will mean little if Prabowo says no to her and her green fantasies.
Published October 2024 CSPO Watch
Mainstream Western media has featured his ascension to President of Indonesia with insinuations that he has not moved on from his military past as if the Prabowo Presidency meant a decline of democracy in the world’s fourth populous country.
- Ex-General Prabowo Sworn In as Indonesia’s Next President Bloomberg
- Indonesia Swears in Ex-General Prabowo Subianto as President Time
REUTERS reported his inauguration speech in detail which pointed out President Prabowo’s key mandates as President of Indonesia.
"They must be freed of fear, poverty, hunger, ignorance, oppression, suffering," he said.
In a wide-ranging speech lasting about an hour, Prabowo said self-sufficiency for food was possible within five years, while also pledging to become self-sufficient in energy.
The new president vowed to eradicate corruption and said that while he wanted to live in a democracy, it must be "polite".
With popular support behind him, President Prabowo is likely to lock horns with “Empress Ursula Von der Leyen” over the problem of her abuse of power in office.
Von der Leyen’s Green Deals which has popular support in the EU office, faces numerous challenges from India’s rejection of CBAM to MERCOSUR countries' challenges to EUDR.
President Prabowo has similarly strong arguments against the EU’s demands of green trade with Indonesia once all the factors are weighed.
Indonesia needs jobs also. Clear cutting of ancient tropical forests in Indonesia, home to orangutans appears to be acceptable for the EU as long as it benefits European industries.The EU wants deforestation- orangutan-extinction-threatening nickel from Indonesia so bad, it complained to the WTO that Indonesia is hurting EU battery jobs by withholding exports of nickel.
In comparison, the EU had no qualms about banning Indonesian palm oil from biofuel use in the EU as palm oil biofuels threatens European jobs in rapeseed and biomass industries.
Indonesia must reject the one-size-fits-all EUDR. The Indonesian government has been very vocal against the “country benchmarking” aspect of the EUDR as it is expected to place Indonesian products under heavy scrutiny for compliance.
Should the EU list Indonesia as “High Risk” for deforestation, then the EU should also list EU member state Sweden as “High Risk.” Failure to do so would expose double standards at the EU.
The thing about EU member state Sweden is that it's chopping down ancient European forests faster than deforestation in the Amazon. Indigenous herders are warning the extreme rates of deforestation in Sweden poses an ‘existential’ threat to Sweden’s reindeer.
Even Sweden’s environmental superstar, Greta Thunberg,has accused Sweden of being “very good at greenwashing” as she staged a protest along with about 50 other activists outside her home country’s parliament.
The Swedish timber industries have unsurprisingly echoed Indonesia’s discontent with the EUDR against the EUDR.
Erik Haara, CEO of the Swedish Federation of Wood and Furniture Industry, and Viveka Beckeman, CEO of the Swedish Forest Industries Federation, petitioned the Swedish government to pressure the EU to reject the new legislation, which “shoots high and crooked.”
According to Mr Haara and Ms Beckeman, the new rules impact more than 60,000 Swedish companies, with “the regulations covering more than the actual problem of deforestation.” Woodcentral
The bottomline here is that Sweden should be rated the same as “High Risk” for deforestation but if Indonesia ends up being blacklisted for deforestation as well, the EU must provide special considerations or revisions as Indonesia has demanded.
Discrimination against poor lesser developed countries
The thing is that it is unjust to compare Indonesia to Sweden based solely on what is happening to their respective forests. This well explains why Indonesia is standing firm in its criticism of the EUDR.
Coordinating Minister of The Economy, Airlangga Hartarto, said the European Union should cancel its country benchmarking on deforestation, where the commission will classify nations as high, standard or low risk in terms of compliance.
“The EU has no right to be a rating agency,”
Chairman for the Indonesian palm oil industry association, GAPKI, Eddy Martono was quoted as challenging the EUDR
“We will continue to advocate against which regulations are burdensome, or not in accordance with Indonesia’s law ... the EU should also understand our conditions,”
Minister Hartarto has further urged ASEAN leaders to be united and pro-active in responding to discriminatory policies at the 24th ASEAN Economic Community Council (AECC) Ministerial Meeting held in Vientiane, Laos.
The discrimination that Minister Hartarto spoke of is evident in an assessment of the EUDR by William Reinsch who holds the Scholl Chair in International Business at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
“These are all good ideas, and the motivation for them is sincere, but they are an easy demand for Europe and the United States, who have already built these values into their economies and social structures and have the resources to implement them. They are a much harder ask for developing countries trying to reduce poverty and create more jobs.”
Newly appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arif Havas Oegroseno, who was Indonesia's Ambassador to Germany prior to his new appointment in Prabowo's government is no stranger to Indonesia's stance against the EU's discriminatory policies against poorer countries. His opinion on the EUDR was clearly expressed in his presentation at the Third Sustainable Vegetable Oils Conference held in Rotterdam this September 10, 2024. Discrimination ranked first in his presentation of "7 Deadly Traits of EUDR". Download AHO-Rotterdam 3 SVOC
The presence of Hartarto and Oegroseno in his inner circle shows that President Prabowo has dug Indonesia in further to protect the interests of his country in open disregard of any protests against Indonesia's resource nationalism.
SDGs a better gauge for sustainability than deforestation risk
While it's justifiable for the EU to rank Sweden as “High Risk” due to its high rates of deforestation in recent times, the same rules cannot be applied to Indonesia due to one stark difference between Sweden and Indonesia. This would be Poverty levels and the relevance of agriculture towards meeting SDGs.
Agriculture contributed a mere 1.46% towards Sweden’s GDP. Within the same time period, agriculture has contributed an average of 13.00% to Indonesia’s GDP. The point is, Sweden can stop clearing ancient forests with minimal impact on its GDP but Indonesia cannot.
The loss of forests in Indonesia, whether for cocoa or palm oil or nickel, must be viewed through the lens of the Sustainable Development Goals for countries like Indonesia which lag far behind Sweden in providing for its citizens.
Once seen in the light of the SDGs, the historical deforestation of Indonesia maybe well worth it as the latest report on Indonesia’s efforts towards achieving SDGs shows that Indonesia with an achievement of 62.5 percent, is the most progressive country in realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target.
What is remarkable about Indonesia’s achievements towards the SDGs is the fact that forest area (% of land area) in Indonesia was reported at 48.36 % in 2021, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources.
As Indonesian Vice President Ma'ruf Amin celebrated Indonesia’s achievements in poverty reduction and stunting in toddlers, data from UNICEF shows that Indonesia has a long way to go towards meeting SDGs on the same level as Sweden.
As the EU buckles under pressure from its primary trade partners in the US and China, the new Indonesian government under President Prabowo is expected to take a harder stance against the EUDR to protect Indonesian jobs and goals towards the SDGs. Ursula von der Leyen may have built up the EU Commission to support her personal agenda but that will mean little if Prabowo says no to her and her green fantasies.
Published October 2024 CSPO Watch