July, 06 2010, 12:06pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
San Francisco: Rolf Skar, Greenpeace Senior forest campaigner:
415.533.2888
Jakarta: Bustar Maitar, Greenpeace Southeast Asia
Forest Team Leader:
+62.8134.4666.135
New Report Links Sinar Mas Group, Major Brands to Rainforest Destruction
Palm Oil and Paper Giant Sinar Mas Set to Undermine Indonesia’s Plan to Curb Deforestation and Climate Pollution
JAKARTA, INDONESIA/SAN FRANCISCO
A new Greenpeace report
shows how global brands are fueling climate change and pushing Sumatran
tigers and orangutans towards the brink of extinction by using paper
made from Indonesian rainforest destruction.(1)
The report, How Sinar Mas
is Pulping the Planet, traces the connection from Asia Pulp and
Paper (APP)(2), the paper subsidiary of the notorious Sinar Mas group,
to major international brands.
Rolf Skar, Greenpeace senior forest campaigner, said "Our new investigation shows Sinar
Mas is selling paper products from rainforest and peatland destruction
to major brands all over the world."
The Greenpeace documents how Sinar Mas
is wreaking havoc in two important rainforest areas on the Indonesian
island of Sumatra: the Bukit Tigapuluh Forest Landscape and the
Kerumantan peat forest. Bukit Tigapuluh is one of the last refuges for
critically endangered Sumatran tigers and orangutans. Kerumutan's carbon
rich peatlands are a key defense against climate change; some Kerumutan
peat is deeper than three meters and illegal to clear under Indonesian
law. Despite this, APP uses the logs from these rainforest areas to feed
its Sumatran based pulp mills, which export pulp and paper products
worldwide.
"Kerumutan and Bukit Tigapuluh are just two of
many endangered forests being decimated by Sinar Mas for paper and palm
oil plantation expansion" said Skar. "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," he concluded.
Several leading
companies have already responded to Greenpeace evidence of the Sinar
Mas group's destructive practices by cancelling their contracts with the
Indonesian palm oil and paper giant (3). Kraft has confirmed that is
phasing out APP paper and packaging, (4) whilst Kimberly- Clark, Nestle
and Unilever are implementing 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) In the financial world, HSBC
Global Asset Management announced it dropped all holdings in GAR.
"It's time for companies like Burger King, Dunkin' Donuts
and Kentucky Fried Chicken to catch up. We're calling on companies in
this report to stop doing business with Sinar Mas immediately. In
addition, we urge them to publicly support the immediate protection of
Indonesia's peatlands and back a moratorium on rainforest destruction,"
continued Skar.
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 gasemitter. (7)
Notes to Editor
NOTES TO EDITORS
(1) Greenpeace report "How Sinar Mas is
Pulping the Planet", July 2010 https://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/publications/reports/SinarMas-APP
(2) APP has major facilities in Indonesia and China and is expanding in
Australia, Canada and the US. It has sales networks in the US, the UK
and Spain.
(3) Between November 2007 and April 2010, Greenpeace released a series
of reports documenting Sinar Mas' rainforest and peatland destruction
for palm oil including Illegal forest clearance and RSPO greenwash: Case
study of Sinar Mas at https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/files/pdfs/forests/sinarmasRSPOgreenwash.pdf.
(4) Letter from Kraft Foods to Greenpeace UK, 1 July 2010.
(5) A number of major corporations including Staples, Office Depot and
Woolworths (Australia) have dropped paper contracts with Sinar Mas due
to its environmental bad practises.
(6) For full reference see 'How Sinar Mas is Pulping the Planet p.32
Endnote 6
(7) For full reference see 'How Sinar Mas is Pulping the Planet p.32
Endnote 7
Greenpeace is a global, independent campaigning organization that uses peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.
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