Mapping Palm Oil Research to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals: Insights From a Bibliometric Analysis of the Literature and Future Directions

Abstract

The establishment of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil in 2004 has brought the sustainability practice in palm oil industries into the spotlight, triggering the focus of various stakeholders on the possible opportunities implicated by it. This study addresses the sustainability by using bibliometric and content analyses to provide a comprehensive synthesis of palm oil-related papers published between January 1970 and November 2024. We limit the search of the Web of Science Core Collection database to business economics studies. Drawing on 573 publication records sourced from the database, this study shows that most published palm oil research supports the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals for “No Poverty”, “Zero Hunger”, and “Climate Action”. Our aim is not only to pinpoint significant authors, notable journals, leading countries, and influential articles within the palm oil area, but also to intellectually identify research streams in the area over the past 54 years. Our analysis reveals three prominent research streams of palm oil sustainability: (1) connection between palm oil production and environmental development; (2) connection between palm oil price and economic fundamental; and (3) connection between palm oil trading and market transition. In addition, the study develops the integrative conceptual framework for future research in economics and finance, which devotes to ecological finance, asymmetric price transmission, and futures market dynamics. By consolidating five decades of palm oil review research into a single, this study bridges academic inquiry with the insights necessary to enhance the scholarly discourse on palm oil's role in delivering policy-relevant solutions aligned with global sustainability goals.