Greenpeace volunteers and a local community are working to stop the destruction of an area of swamp forest in Sumatra, Indonesia, which is to be converted into a palm oil plantation. More than 30 volunteers will work with people from the nearby village of Kuala Cenaku to construct dams in canals that are being used for logging and draining peatland.

Greenpeace says that by halting drainage operations with dams, they will prevent the peatland from drying out and releasing large quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, as well as stop the illegal burning of the peatland to plant palm oil saplings. According to Greenpeace, destroying peatland swamp forests is the main contributor to Indonesia’s high CO² emissions, which makes the country the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China and the United States.

Palm oil is used in a million things (from biodiesel production, to junk food). Is this how global capitalism will work? We dry out peatland to produce cheap palm oil to create “renewable” fuels and cheap junk food, at the cost of an even greater co2 burden on the planet? What do you think?