Documentary warns Asia’s biofuel boom puts forests at risk
New Documentary Warns Asia’s Biofuel Boom Puts Forests at Risk
Reporter
October 8, 2026 | 10:12 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A documentary on Asia’s growing biofuel demand premiered at Bangkok Climate Action Week on October 7, examining the role of Indonesian palm oil in South Korea’s biodiesel supply chain.
Produced by Solutions for Our Climate (SFOC), the documentary looks at the expansion of biofuel production from palm oil plantations in Indonesia and growing demand in South Korea.
The documentary was screened alongside a second film by Japan-based Global Environment Forum (GEF), which examines the expansion of forest biomass and energy plantations in Indonesia.
The screenings were followed by a panel discussion involving representatives from Trend Asia and the Clean Transition Coalition, SFOC, and GEF. The discussion covered the impacts of bioenergy expansion in producer and consumer countries and the challenges of developing a sustainable energy transition.
SFOC Reports Risks in Indonesia-South Korea Supply Chain
“It was really heartbreaking to experience the destruction happening near my home. When forests are replaced by monoculture plantations, communities lose so much of what those forests provide, from biodiversity and livelihoods to the many functions that sustain people’s lives,” said Marihel Parda Winda, Forest and Land Use Program Officer at SFOC and a key figure in the documentary.
The film draws on SFOC’s report, Behind Korea’s Biofuels: Sustainability Risks in Indonesia-Korea Palm Oil Supply Chains.
The report found that palm oil and its derivatives accounted for 72 percent of South Korea’s biodiesel feedstocks in 2024, four times their share when the country introduced its biodiesel blending mandate in 2015.
Most of the feedstocks originated from Indonesia.
More than 90 percent of the Korea-bound export volumes examined in the report were linked to documented cases of ecosystem degradation, land-rights conflicts, or governance failures in Indonesia.
SFOC said stronger safeguards are needed as South Korea expands its use of biofuels and other markets adopt stricter sustainability requirements.
“The demand coming from other countries and governments is driving this destruction, and we have to ask why it continues to happen. An energy transition cannot come at the expense of forests and people’s livelihoods,” Marihel said.
Groups Raise Concerns Over Bioenergy Expansion
Large-scale bioenergy production can be associated with deforestation, biodiversity loss, greenhouse gas emissions across supply chains, land conflicts, and pressure on communities that depend on forests and land for their livelihoods.
Amalya Oktaviani, program manager at Trend Asia and a member of the Clean Transition Coalition, said palm oil and pulp and paper remain major drivers of deforestation in Indonesia, while growing bioenergy demand could add further pressure.
“When the energy transition continues to rely on large-scale plantations for bioenergy feedstock supply, we create a false solution, one that is presented as renewable while causing further forest loss while continuing to place the burden of these externalities on communities.”
“We need to transform the way we think about energy transition pathways, including how we address transport and the competition between food and fuel. We simply don’t have a quota to keep expanding plantations while deepening inequality and creating new environmental pressures.”
Amalya also said the benefits of biodiesel development should reach local communities.
“We need to move from an extractive economy to a restorative economy. The benefits and incentives from biodiesel development are largely captured by big corporations, while smallholders and communities often bear the environmental and social costs. Communities need to be empowered to understand and defend what is happening to their forests and to build economic alternatives that restore rather than destroy ecosystems,” Amalya concluded.
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