Borneo

Region in Southeast Asia.

At a glance

Source	Author	Role	In one line
Not the End of the World	Hannah Ritchie	subject	Ritchie recounts hating palm oil after the 2018 Iceland advert, then finding in research that boycotting it would worsen deforestation.

Not the End of the World — Hannah Ritchie (2024)

Source: Not the End of the World · Readwise highlight

Indonesia and Malaysia produce around 85% of the world’s palm oil. It’s undeniable that both countries have cut down forests to make space for their palm plantations.

• Role: subject
• In the book: Ritchie recounts hating palm oil after the 2018 Iceland advert, then finding in research that boycotting it would worsen deforestation. Indonesia and Malaysia produce about 85% of palm oil; a satellite study of Borneo found most plantations replaced already-logged land. Palm yields far more oil per hectare than alternatives.
• Why it matters: These countries are the geography of the palm oil argument: the case that a simple boycott is counterproductive depends on where and how the plantations were established.