Initiatives

With Inobu and the Government of Indonesia, the European Forest Institute worked on ways for districts and provinces to demonstrate when commodities like palm oil are produced sustainably and legally. The Terpercaya Initiative aimed to generate credible information and analysis, and to build the understanding and trust needed to promote sustainability, trade, and cooperation.

In 2018, the Government of Indonesia and the Delegation of the EU to Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam decided to create a special stakeholder committee to seek a common understanding and ways forward on the issue of palm oil sustainability. An advisory committee was formed under the Indonesian name of Terpercaya, meaning ‘trustworthy’.

To ensure that the data and methods used reflect the interests and aspirations of these diverse groups and could be effectively used, the Terpercaya Advisory Committee favoured multistakeholder participation, seeking a representation of the major actors with an interest in palm oil production and trade. Its sessions have been chaired by the Ministry of National Development Planning (Bappenas) and the EU.

The Terpercaya Advisory Committee has been inclusive of diverse views about how to define and measure district level sustainability in Indonesia with a focus on the palm oil sector. The aim has been to seek a shared understanding around key concepts and performance indicators among a group that ranges from environmental activists to large palm oil corporations, together with representatives of Indonesian and European governments.