Newsletter - February 2026

1.What's New?

Webinar + Deforestation Trend recap

In January, we held our annual kickoff webinar to recap the past year and look ahead to the trends shaping 2026. We focused in particular on deforestation and grievance dynamics in palm oil supply chains, and the findings were sobering.

Deforestation continues to move in the wrong direction. In 2025, we saw the highest number of RADD alerts inside palm oil plots since 2021. The average alert area inside plots reached .41 hectares, compared to a 2021–2024 average of 0.32 hectares — roughly a 22% increase. While official Tree Cover Loss statistics for 2025 will not be released until later this year, early indicators suggest deforestation remains a persistent and unresolved challenge across the sector.

NDPE committed Company Comparison

We also wanted to understand whether major consumer goods companies with NDPE commitments are experiencing different deforestation risk exposure compared to the global average. To explore this, we compared annual deforestation rates between 2015 and 2024 across mills (50km proximity) supplying three downstream companies.

What stood out is how closely all three track the global trend. There is little difference between company-specific exposure and the overall baseline. This reflects the reality that these companies source from roughly 1,400 to 1,850 mills, out of an estimated 2,400 mills globally. At that scale, downstream procurement policies alone have limited ability to shift upstream land-use outcomes. The chart is striking, but it ultimately illustrates the difficulty of reducing deforestation risk through voluntary initiatives in a highly interconnected global market.

Low grievance resolution continues

Grievances show a similarly persistent pattern. In 2025, 81 new grievances were filed, yet 74 remain unresolved. Nearly a third of disputed cases lacked supporting evidence such as maps or documentation. While grievance systems are widely used across major producers and traders, the low resolution rate suggests that accountability mechanisms are still not translating into consistent outcomes on the ground.

Jurisdictional investments 

Finally, we are seeing growing interest in jurisdictional investment approaches, but the purpose and effectiveness of these initiatives often remain unclear. Investment in palm-producing jurisdictions with remaining forest should be encouraged, yet many programs still lack active monitoring systems for protection and restoration, as well as systematic tools for evaluating risks and opportunities.

In some cases, jurisdictions receiving support have relatively little remaining biophysically suitable forest for industrial plantations, meaning there is little remaining threat from palm. At the same time, high-risk areas such as Aceh continue to face real deforestation pressure. Clear comparative metrics on where investments are being made, and what types of interventions they support, remain largely unavailable.

2. What's coming up?

Leo in Dusseldorf/Hamburg

Leo will be in Germany, in the week of March 23-27. He will be in Hamburg and the Dusseldorf area, so if you are interested in meeting with him, please get in touch with us at info (at) maphubs.com.

Palmoil.io improvements in the pipeline

Simplicity 

We are streamlining Palmoil.io to make it even easier to use. Our goal is to simplify analytics so you can quickly identify new deforestation risks and grievances each month and clearly pinpoint high-risk facilities, suppliers, and jurisdictions relevant to EUDR, DCF, and CDP compliance.

Stronger Analytics

Alongside simplification, we are expanding our analytical capabilities. Whether you are conducting a SCOPE 3 assessment, preparing for EUDR compliance, tracking DCF/NDPE commitments, or aligning with IRF 6.0, Palmoil.io is evolving to provide faster, more precise insights. We are also integrating AI-driven tools and enhanced land-use conversion analytics to improve both accuracy and automation.

Affordability

We are expanding our free tier and will continue offering free accounts to any company that requests one this year. Our aim is to provide practical, affordable tools that enable both upstream and downstream companies to meet compliance and sustainability requirements.

Meet the Team - Kris Carle

Kris Carle is a geospatial software engineer focusing on spatial databases, web mapping applications, data analytics, and mobile applications. Before joining MapHubs, Kris led a large geospatial data warehouse project and a mobile mapping application as a contractor for the U.S. Army. He is very passionate about open-source technologies and has made over 1 million contributions to OpenStreetMap! Kris has a degree in Computer Science from the University of Maryland.

Tip of the Month

If you logged into Palmoil.io recently, you may have noticed an updated look to our Portfolio dashboards. We now display monthly RADD alerts alongside historical monthly data, allowing you to compare alerts year over year and better understand whether deforestation risk is increasing or declining compared with previous months. 

To explore this feature, simply open any existing Portfolio list or upload your mill list to view the updated analytics. We have many more visuals and analytical improvements in the pipeline, so more updates will be coming soon.

Follow us on LinkedIn!

If you want to hear about our upcoming webinars, feature releases, and hot takes on the issues of the day, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/maphubs