Palm oil

Indonesia

Greenhouse gas emissions from peat soil burning linked to palm oil production in a given year. The emissions are calculated based on the area of overlap between the burned areas (Ministry of Forestry, 2025) and peat areas (Ministry of Agriculture, 2019) and attributed to oil palm based on the different land uses. An average emission factor of 824 tonnes of CO₂-eq./ha was applied, following Rodríguez Vásquez et al. (2021).

GHG emissions from fires on peat soils in a given year were estimated based on the overlap between burned areas (Ministry of Forestry, 2025) and peat areas (Ministry of Agriculture, 2019), multiplied by an emission factor of 824 t CO₂ eq ha⁻¹, following the average emission estimates provided by Rodríguez Vásquez et al. (2021). This value represents the average CO₂ released per hectare during a single peat fire event, derived from measurements of burn depth, bulk density, and emission factors from peatland sites in Kalimantan, Sumatra, and Malaysia. Because peat fires may result from multiple land uses, emissions were allocated to the oil palm sector according to the proportion of modified peatlands within each FFB production unit that are covered by oil palm. Modified peatlands are defined as peat soils used for agriculture, including rice paddies, oil palm, pulpwood plantations, aquaculture, and other agricultural uses, as identified by MapBiomas Indonesia Collection 4 (2025). This choice reflects the fact that fire is often used as land management to clear the land before it is used agriculturally and might then spread to neighbouring areas (Purnomo et al., 2017), whereas fires in intact peatland forests are uncommon (Marlier et al., 2015).

Indonesia - Emissions from peat burning

Greenhouse gas emissions from peat subsidence linked to palm oil production in a given year. The emissions are calculated based on the area of industrial oil palm plantations located on peatland multiplied by an emission factor of 90 t CO₂-eq./ha, following Cooper et al. (2020).

GHG emissions from peat subsidence in a given year were estimated based on the area of industrial oil palm plantations located on peat soils within each FFB production unit for the target year. This area was multiplied by an emission factor of 90 t CO₂ eq ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹, averaged over a 30-year plantation cycle, to account for methane, nitrous oxide, and carbon dioxide emissions resulting from peat oxidation and subsidence after drainage (Cooper et al., 2020). 

Indonesia - Emissions from peat subsidence

Gross greenhouse gas emissions from land converted to industrial oil palm plantations in a given year, including both forest and non-forest areas. Emissions were estimated by multiplying the converted area by the estimated carbon stocks per hectare, using above-ground biomass data from Harris et al. (2021) and applying root-to-shoot ratios from Spawn et al. (2020) to estimate below-ground biomass. Estimates are based on total biomass removal (above- and below-ground) and exclude soil carbon. CO₂-equivalents were calculated by multiplying total carbon stocks by 3.67.

Gross greenhouse gas emissions from industrial palm oil conversion (tonnes of CO2-eq) were calculated within a given year by estimating all of the CO2-eq potentially emitted due to annual oil palm land use change, including both from natural forest and non-forest land covers (as defined in Gaveau et al. (2022). This metric is calculated by multiplying the area converted each year to palm oil by an estimate of the carbon stock (above and below ground, excluding soil carbon stocks) contained in each hectare of converted land. Above-ground woody biomass density (carbon stocks per hectare) was derived from Harris et al. (2021). Below-ground biomass density was estimated based on Harris et al.’s above-ground biomass density and the ratio of below-ground to above-ground biomass derived from Spawn et al. (2020). To convert biomass to carbon density, we used conversion factors of 0.47 t C t-1 for aboveground and 0.39 t C-1 for belowground, respectively (Diop et al., 2016). Carbon is converted into CO₂-eq emissions by multiplying by a factor of 44/12 (or 3.67), based on the ratio between the molecular weight of C and CO₂ following IPCC (2014).

Indonesia - Gross emissions from land-use change

Net greenhouse gas emissions from land-use change were calculated as the difference between gross emissions from oil palm plantation expansion and carbon sequestration in new industrial oil palm plantations in the target year. Values may be negative if oil palm plantations are established on non-forest land.

Net greenhouse gas emissions from industrial oil palm were calculated as the difference between gross emissions from oil palm plantation expansion and carbon sequestration in new industrial oil palm plantations. Carbon sequestration was estimated by multiplying the area of new industrial oil palm plantations in the target year by the biomass carbon stock of industrial oil palm plantations per hectare. We used values from Khasanah et al. (2015) for above-ground biomass and applied a 1:4 root-to-shoot ratio from Guillaume et al. (2018) to account for below-ground biomass. Carbon stocks were converted to CO₂-equivalent emissions using a factor of 3.67 (IPCC, 2014).

Indonesia - Net emissions from land-use change

The extent of productive industrial oil palm plantations identified by remote sensing and expert photo interpretation, following the definition of the TreeMap’s Nusantara Atlas (Gaveau et al., 2022).

Oil palm planted area is the extent of productive industrial oil palm. It was calculated using data provided by Gaveau et al. (2022), who mapped the year in which oil palm is first planted in a given location. This dataset can be viewed at Nusantara Atlas (The TreeMap, 2025). Oil palms were assumed to start producing fresh fruit bunches (FFB) in the third year after planting and continue to produce for up to 30 years. Based on these assumptions,the productive oil palm planted area assigned is the total area planted  three years before the target year. For example, the productive oil palm planted area in 2018 is represented by the total area mapped as oil palm plantation in 2015 by Gaveau et. al. (Gaveau et al., 2022).

Indonesia - Oil palm planted area

The total area of natural forest loss associated with industrial oil palm plantations in hectares over a ten year period in the year of harvest/export

This metric estimates how much deforestation is associated with industrial palm oil production in a given year.  This includes the full plantation cycle, from establishment, planting and harvest in a particular year. To estimate the deforestation associated with industrial oil palm production in a specific year, we used a three-year lag between deforestation for oil palm and the first harvest, and aggregated deforestation at the location of oil palm production across 10 years. Deforestation for industrial oil palm is derived from Gaveau et al. (Gaveau et al., 2022; The TreeMap, 2025). By setting these parameters we are assuming that oil palms will start to produce, and consequently start to contribute to the volume traded in a given year, in the third year after the deforestation event for new plantations. These trees will continue to produce for around 30 years; however, here we are accounting only for the first ten years of production. For example, the total area of land that was classified as forest in 2007, but had been converted to oil palm plantations by 2017, would be considered as areas of deforestation contributing to industrial oil palm deforestation in 2020.

Indonesia - Historical deforestation for palm oil (industrial)

The total area of forest areas converted to industrial oil palm plantations in the selected year

Annual deforestation for industrial oil palm measures the forest area cleared for oil palm plantations in the target year, following the definition of rapid forest conversion to industrial oil palm in Gaveau et al. (2022). The data is derived from Gaveau et al. (Gaveau et al., 2022; The TreeMap, 2025) 

Indonesia - Annual palm deforestation (industrial)

Area of peatland of all depths planted with oil palm.

Oil palm on peatlands refers to the total area of oil palm (Gaveau et al., 2022; The TreeMap, 2025) planted on peatlands. Peatland areas were derived from Indonesia's official peatland map, which was published by the Indonesian Center for Agricultural Land Resources Research and Development within the Ministry of Agriculture in 2019 (Ministry of Agriculture, 2019). 

Indonesia - Oil palm planted on peat

Total annual greenhouse gas emissions from peatland subsidence, peat burning, and land use change associated with palm oil production, accounting for the carbon sequestration of the new oil palm plantations.

This metric estimates the major sources of GHG emissions from palm oil plantations in Indonesia: subsidence on drained peatlands, fire on peatlands, and land use change, i.e., the clearing of vegetation (forest and non-forest) to establish oil palm plantations. The GHG sequestration from new plantations was also estimated and incorporated into the net GHG emissions reported by Trase.

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