Palm oil and paper
giant set to undermine Indonesia’s plan
to curb deforestation and climate change
On this page Press release - July 6, 2010
Walmart, Auchan, Kentucky Fried Chicken
(KFC) are amongst the global brands fueling
climate change and pushing Sumatran tigers
and orang-utans towards the brink of extinction
by using or selling paper made from Indonesia’s
rainforests for products like cups, photocopy
and tissue paper, a new Greenpeace report
reveals today. (1)
The report, 'How Sinar Mas is Pulping the
Planet', shows how major international companies
are driving the destruction of Indonesia's
rainforests and carbon-rich peatlands by
sourcing paper from Asia Pulp and Paper
(APP) (2), part of the notorious Sinar Mas
group.
Bustar Maitar, Greenpeace
Southeast Asia forest campaigner, said:
“This investigation shows how major international
companies like Walmart and KFC are causing
Indonesia's peatland and forests to be slashed
and burned for every day paper products.
Some of the world’s best known brands are
pulping the planet.”
Greenpeace investigated
two important rainforest areas on the Indonesian
island of Sumatra and discovered that Sinar
Mas is wreaking environmental havoc in both.
The Bukit Tigapuluh Forest Landscape is
one of the last refuges for endangered Sumatran
tigers and orang-utans. Kerumutan’s carbon
rich peatlands are a key defence against
climate change; some of the forest’s peat
is deeper than three meters and thus illegal
to clear under Indonesian law. Sinar Mas'
paper arm APP uses the logs from these rainforest
areas to feed its Sumatran based pulp mills,
which export pulp and paper products worldwide.
“These are just two
of many important rainforests being decimated
by Sinar Mas for pulp and paper and palm
oil expansion. Indonesian President Yudyohono's
new commitments to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions from deforestation will be undermined
unless he extends the moratorium on new
deforestation licenses to cover all forest
and peatlands that are currently slated
for destruction by Sinar Mas and other companies,”
said Maitar.
Several leading companies
have already responded to Greenpeace evidence
of the Sinar Mas group’s illegal and destructive
environmental practices in Indonesia and
are cancelling their contracts with the
Indonesian palm oil and paper giant (3).
Today, Carrefour confirmed that it has already
stopped buying from APP for its own brands
and Tesco recently announced that it will
do the same by the end of the year. In addition,
Kraft has confirmed that it will phase out
APP paper and packaging, (4) whilst Kimberly-
Clark, Nestle and Unilever are introducing
new policies that will also rule out supplies
from APP, unless the company and its suppliers
make substantial changes. Unilever, Kraft,
and Nestle have also dropped contracts with
Golden Agri Resources (GAR), the Sinar Mas
group’s palm oil arm, following recent Greenpeace
campaigns.(5)
“Sinar Mas is not only
guilty of environmental abuses but is a
repeat offender - its ‘sustainability commitments’
are not worth the paper they are written
on. Greenpeace is calling on all companies
like Walmart and KFC to stop doing business
with Sinar Mas immediately. It also urges
them to publicly support the need for the
Indonesian Government to fully protect Indonesia's
peatlands and to stop all rainforest destruction,”
continued Maitar.
The destruction of rainforests
and peatlands is the key reason why Indonesia
accounts for around a quarter of all greenhouse
gas emissions caused by deforestation. (6)
According to recent government estimates,
Indonesia ranks as the world’s third largest
greenhouse gas emitter. (7)
