"Commentary: East Can Meet West on Palm Oil Controversy", 13 February 2019

...The debate on the economic benefits versus the environmental and social costs of palm oil production is often based on zero-sum assumptions on both sides. But the complex issues facing the palm oil sector cannot easily be seen through a stark black-and-white perspective.

...A comprehensive approach to ensure sustainability across sectors and across larger-scale geographic areas is required. One practical approach, known as Development by Design, or DBD, is already practiced and can be scaled up to cover wider areas.

DBD takes into account both the importance of sustainable livelihoods (development) and conservation....

The key to the jurisdiction-wide scope of DBD is the conscious balancing of choices related to economic livelihoods and conservation interests.

The balancing is done through a three-step hierarchical and sequential mitigation approach: avoid impacts, minimize impacts and offset impacts (only if there are unavoidable negative impacts)....

...In the meantime, can East meet West on the matter of palm oil? It is possible, if we abandon zero-sum approaches. Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum..."As we develop a new approach to the new economy, we must remember that we are not playing a zero-sum game. This is not a matter of free trade or protectionism, technology or jobs, immigration or protecting citizens, and growth or equality. Those are all false dichotomies, which we can avoid by developing policies that favor 'and' over 'or,' allowing all sets of interests to be pursued in parallel,"...said.