“RSPO is Greenwashing!” TuK Criticizes Celebrating Sustainability Amid Forest Fires and Violations of Community Rights

Jakarta, 04 November 2026—WALHI National Executive, WALHI Central Kalimantan, and TuK INDONESIA staged a protest titled “RSPO is Greenwashing!” The action coincided with the RSPO Roundtable Conference (RT2026) in Jakarta.

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is a certification scheme that claims to uphold environmentally and socially responsible palm oil practices. That claim is hard to take at face value when RSPO continues to certify members currently implicated in forest and land fires, human rights violations, and ecological damage. The gap between the sustainability the certification promises and the reality of an industry tied to environmental destruction is stark. WALHI and TuK INDONESIA therefore regard RSPO as a vehicle for greenwashing.

“This action aims to raise public awareness, especially among buyers, financiers, brands, and consumers, that certification is no guarantee that a product is sustainable,” said Linda Rosalina, Executive Director of TuK INDONESIA. She noted the irony of this year’s conference being held as a festive event while ordinary people are fighting to put out fires and struggling with toxic smoke. “RSPO and its members shouldn’t be in Jakarta. They should be at the fire sites, making sure the fires are put out and that people can exercise their right to a healthy environment. RSPO and its members must be held accountable for violating the constitutional rights of the Indonesian people,” Linda said.

TuK INDONESIA urges financiers, particularly banks and investors, to review and conduct due diligence on the financing they have extended to RSPO members, and to stop treating RSPO certification as an indicator of green economic activity. It also urges brands and buyers to carry out due diligence and ensure supply chains are traceable to the plantation level, without relying on RSPO certification. Brands and buyers must stop purchasing from suppliers proven to be involved in forest and land fires or human rights violations and that fail to remedy them, and they must take responsibility for restoring the environment and fulfilling the rights of affected communities.

WALHI (the Indonesian Forum for the Environment, Friends of the Earth Indonesia) mapped companies that are both RSPO members and linked to fires. Based on hotspot analysis with a high confidence level (above 80%) and field findings, it identified 14 corporate groups and one individual company:

1. Genting Plantation Berhad
2. SD Guthrie Berhad
3. Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad
4. United Plantations Bhd
5. First Resources Limited
6. Golden Agri-Resources
7. Musim Mas Holdings Pte. Ltd.
8. Wilmar International Limited
9. PT Astra Agro Lestari Tbk
10. Bumitama Agri Ltd.
11. PT Prime Agri Resources Tbk
12. PT Sumber Tani Agung Resources Tbk
13. PT Sawit Sumbermas Sarana
14. PT Triputra Agro Persada Tbk
15. PT Palmina Utama

“This shows that sustainability certification risks becoming an instrument of greenwashing when the label helps companies build an eco-friendly image without guaranteeing that damage is prevented or its impacts remedied. Certification should never be a shield that lets corporations dodge accountability for forest and land fires. Companies proven to have violated environmental standards must face firm sanctions, including review and revocation of their certification where the grounds and rules allow,” said Umi Ma’rufah, Forest and Plantation Campaigner at WALHI.

Janang Firman Palanungkai, Executive Director of WALHI Central Kalimantan, said: “Environmental violations by RSPO members are already widely documented on the ground, and the latest is the fires that have burned from July to October 2026. RSPO should conduct independent audits and evaluate all of its member companies. It must not become a mask hiding massive environmental destruction in Indonesia, especially in Central Kalimantan. It would set a dangerous precedent if RSPO, an organization founded on environmental sustainability, ends up allowing environmental destruction to go unchecked.”

Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia (WALHI), Jl. Tegal Parang Utara No. 14, Mampang Prapatan, South Jakarta | Email: [email protected] | Instagram, X, TikTok: @walhi.nasional | Phone: +62 811 5501 980

Transformasi untuk Keadilan Indonesia (TuK INDONESIA), Jl. Cikoko Timur I No. 16, RT 1/RW 002, Cikoko, Pancoran, South Jakarta, DKI Jakarta

This post is also available in: Indonesian