Advocating for inclusive narratives: A call for critical engagement with the palm oil agribusiness sector

The palm oil industry, a significant economic driver in South-east Asia, remains at the centre of intense global scrutiny due to environmental and human rights concerns persist. Despite its high productivity per hectare, critics continue to raise concerns about its role in deforestation, biodiversity loss and exploitative labour practices. The industry’s transnational nature further complicates these debates, shaping public perception and policy discourse. Overwhelmingly, the narrative about this sector focuses on negative consequences, warning consumers of importing deforestation and supporting harmful labour practices. The media plays an outsized role in shaping and relaying such perceptions. However, civil society organisations (CSOs) also play an important role in shaping narratives as well as pushing for reforms in this industry. In this paper, we focus on the palm oil industry in the two largest producers globally, Indonesia and Malaysia. We trace how these narratives shift over time and highlight instances that acknowledge positive impacts and sustainability efforts. Ultimately, we argue for a more nuanced analysis of the palm oil agribusiness – one that accounts for diverse perspectives, recognises reform efforts and critically engages with the sector’s ongoing challenges. This article was published open access under a CC BY 4.0 licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ .