•  
  •  
 

DOI

10.5642/envirolabasia.20170101.09

Abstract

This reflection touches on the writer’s experiences during the EnviroLab Asia Clinic trip in early 2016 to Borneo, Malaysia and Singapore. The reflection involves two events: a visit to a blockade protesting the construction of a hydroelectric dam and a meeting with the sustainability department of Wilmar, one of the world’s leading palm oil producers. The first event comments on the tension between the need for renewable energy and the destruction of the natural environment and communities due to the particular energy generation technology chosen. This event highlighted the importance of understanding the societal constraints a technology is being installed in. Moreover, this event made clear the opportunity developing countries have to leapfrog the problems developed countries have encountered in their energy infrastructure and define their own energy future. The second event comments on Wilmar’s improving but still lacking sustainability policy. The writer noticed a myopic focus on the origin of plantations but an ignorance of the other impacts of the palm oil industry (input resource flows, effluents etc.). This event highlighted the need to consider the product’s creation, use and disposal to construct a more lifecycle minded sustainability policy.

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.