Public debate in Europe has raised concerns about the effects of oil palm monoculture farming in Indonesia on deforestation, biodiversity loss, and social problems that arise from violations of human rights and indigenous land rights. The critique has focused on these perceived problems, i.e., the dangers both to local communities and to global climate crisis. The discussion centers on reducing palm oil use and is held up by different stakeholders, including European non-government organizations (NGO). Since most of the world’s palm oil is produced in Indonesia where oil palm cultivation provides a livelihood for 16 million smallholders, workers and their families, the issue is highly contested.

This paper presents the "Good and bad palm oil" project and tentative findings on the policy dialogue between Indonesia and the EU, public discourse in the media, as well as the opinions of European NGOs on palm oil. The dialogue is understood as a process of negotiation, or bargaining, on the different aspects and impacts of oil palm farming. Drawing on data from NGO publications, expert interviews, and online news archives, the findings indicate the diverse arguments on the “good and bad” of palm oil. Recent dialogue on palm oil voiced by European NGOs - such as Friends of the Earth Europe, WWF Europe and Climate Action Network Europe - centers on pushing the EU for regulation on deforestation. Whereas they lobby the EU bodies, international NGOs such as Rainforest Rescue and Grassroots push the international palm oil organization Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) improve their standards.