Asia Pulp & Paper, the third-largest pulp and paper company in the world, announced Tuesday that it is halting operations in Indonesia’s natural rain forests, a victory for advocates who have been negotiating with the company for the past year. The Singapore-based company, which controls logging concessions spanning nearly 6.4 million acres in Indonesia, said it also has agreed to protect forested peatland, which stores massive amounts of carbon, and to work with indigenous communities to protect their native land. As of Friday, the firm had pulled hundreds of excavators out of the forest and had hired a European nonprofit group called The Forest Trust, which negotiated the agreement, to independently monitor its operations. Aida Greenbury, the firm’s managing director for sustainability, said that a coalition of environmentalists, customers and some of the firm’s own employees had pushed for an end to native forest logging. “We heard very loud and clear what they want us to do,” she said. “It is an investment for the sustainability of our business, not only an investment in the environment and the social impact we’re creating.”The move shows how activists are increasingly focused on securing environmental commitments from corporate giants rather than governments, which can be slow to enact sweeping policy changes.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Asia P&P AgreesTo Stop Cutting Rain Forests
http://ht.ly/hqZhr
Asia Pulp & Paper, the third-largest pulp and paper company in the world, announced Tuesday that it is halting operations in Indonesia’s natural rain forests, a victory for advocates who have been negotiating with the company for the past year. The Singapore-based company, which controls logging concessions spanning nearly 6.4 million acres in Indonesia, said it also has agreed to protect forested peatland, which stores massive amounts of carbon, and to work with indigenous communities to protect their native land. As of Friday, the firm had pulled hundreds of excavators out of the forest and had hired a European nonprofit group called The Forest Trust, which negotiated the agreement, to independently monitor its operations. Aida Greenbury, the firm’s managing director for sustainability, said that a coalition of environmentalists, customers and some of the firm’s own employees had pushed for an end to native forest logging. “We heard very loud and clear what they want us to do,” she said. “It is an investment for the sustainability of our business, not only an investment in the environment and the social impact we’re creating.”The move shows how activists are increasingly focused on securing environmental commitments from corporate giants rather than governments, which can be slow to enact sweeping policy changes.
Asia Pulp & Paper, the third-largest pulp and paper company in the world, announced Tuesday that it is halting operations in Indonesia’s natural rain forests, a victory for advocates who have been negotiating with the company for the past year. The Singapore-based company, which controls logging concessions spanning nearly 6.4 million acres in Indonesia, said it also has agreed to protect forested peatland, which stores massive amounts of carbon, and to work with indigenous communities to protect their native land. As of Friday, the firm had pulled hundreds of excavators out of the forest and had hired a European nonprofit group called The Forest Trust, which negotiated the agreement, to independently monitor its operations. Aida Greenbury, the firm’s managing director for sustainability, said that a coalition of environmentalists, customers and some of the firm’s own employees had pushed for an end to native forest logging. “We heard very loud and clear what they want us to do,” she said. “It is an investment for the sustainability of our business, not only an investment in the environment and the social impact we’re creating.”The move shows how activists are increasingly focused on securing environmental commitments from corporate giants rather than governments, which can be slow to enact sweeping policy changes.
