Gemma Tillack, Rainforest Action Network’s forest policy director issued the following response:
There is nothing “Forest Positive” about Asia Pulp and Paper – A notorious forest destroyer that is becoming one of the largest forestry giants on the planet.
Asia Pulp and Paper’s (APP) “Forest Positive Policy” is greenwash and simply can not be trusted by consumers, consumer goods companies or financiers.
APP is backtracking from the commitments made in its 2013 policy, a policy it adopted after decades of scrutiny due to its violations of the rights of hundreds of Indigenous communities and wide scale deforestation and destruction to Indonesia’s most biodiverse forest ecosystems.
APP’s new policy opens the flood gates to sourcing from suppliers that have destroyed Indonesia’s rainforests between 2013 and 2021.
The devil is in the detail. The policy no longer commits to the use of the globally recognized method for identifying and protecting High Carbon Stock Forests – the High Carbon Stock Approach. Meaning it is unclear how APP will define forests warranting protection and the methodologies it will permit to be used for new land development.
The policy gives lip service to meeting international human rights laws and norms, but undermines these commitments by stating the company will adhere to Indonesian law and standards when they contradict international human rights laws.
Don’t be fooled by APP’s Regenesis –– it’s so called “new platform to deliver our renewed overarching ambition for a sustainable future.” APP remains one of two extremely high risk plantation forestry companies in Indonesia which has failed for decades to halt its contribution to egregious human rights violations and destruction of natural forests and peatlands in Indonesia.