Habitat for Humanity Should Cut its Ties with Asia Pulp and Paper

By Rainforest Action Network
APP logging truck
Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) is Indonesia's largest paper company and the fourth largest in the world. The clearing of rainforests and draining of peatlands in Indonesia has become a huge source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and it is largely driven by the pulp and paper industry.

It’s disappointing that Habitat for Humanity — a group I have a lot of admiration for — didn’t do its homework before partnering with Indonesia’s most destructive pulp and paper company, Asia Pulp and Paper.

Not only is Habitat getting used to fuel APP’s massive PR machine, but Habitat is soiling its own reputation and contradicting its values of integrity, upholding human rights, and addressing poverty by associating with a company that regularly bends the truth, undermines rights and grabs community land and livelihoods.

And this is not even to mention the immense negative impacts APP’s operations are having on Indonesia’s  forests, biodiversity and the climate. (The amount of carbon emissions resulting from APP’s operations is a subject the company has been thoroughly duplicitous about in the past — read our report in which we set the record straight about APP’s “hidden” emissions.)

From Scholastic and the Gucci Group to Office Depot and Staples, those companies that have looked into APP’s record and performance have seen fit to sever ties with the company. RAN urges Habitat for Humanity to research just who it’s dealing with in partnering with the likes of APP, and to find another partner that is consistent with its noble humanitarian mission.