Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This page may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that I have recommended. There is no additional cost to you whatsoever.
On the 4th of August 2022, Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) Sinar Mas received top ratings from the global environmental sustainability review agency EcoVadis for its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance and impacts.
With an general ‘Advanced’ rating, the Indonesian group, which can be one of many world’s largest built-in pulp and paper producers, is now inside the 97th percentile of its respective business regarding sustainable improvement.
Asia Pulp and Paper was assessed for his or her efficiency, initiatives, and outlook in 4 key areas based on EcoVadis’ survey – Environmental, Labor & Human Rights, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement.
EcoVadis was based in 2007 and has since grown to turn out to be the world’s largest and most trusted supplier of enterprise sustainability rankings, with a world community of greater than 100,000 rated firms.
Using an evaluation methodology that takes its cue from worldwide sustainability requirements such because the Global Reporting Initiative, the United Nations Global Compact, and ISO 26000, every step of an EcoVadis evaluation is overseen by a scientific committee of sustainability and supply chain experts to ensure objective third-party sustainability assessments. EcoVadis additionally gives firms assessed underneath their scheme with additional advisories on potential areas of enchancment of their framework, in addition to specific ranges of precedence that require additional consideration.
Asia Pulp & Paper acquired an ‘Outstanding’ for Environment, ‘Advanced’ for Ethics, and ‘Moderate’ for each Labor & Human Rights in addition to Sustainable Procurement within the EcoVadis’ evaluation.
Implementing Gold Standard Initiatives throughout Indonesia
Asia Pulp and Paper isn’t any stranger to receiving reward from sustainability pundits globally, with the corporate obtaining a gold rating from EcoVadis beforehand in April 2018. Not lengthy after, the Indonesian pulp and paper large was named “Most Sustainable Company” in their industry at the World Finance Sustainability Awards by World Finance Magazine and was later awarded an A- grade by UK-based non-profit organization CDP Worldwide in December 2020 within the Forest class.
The secret behind Asia Pulp & Paper’s profitable rankings lies inside its many initiatives, every underscoring a key part of the 4 classes underneath evaluation in EcoVadis’ scheme. These initiatives set Asia Pulp & Paper aside as a driver of sustainable improvement in Indonesia, and supply examples for different organizations and firms crafting their sustainability technique.
Environment
Under EcoVadis’ Environment class, Asia Pulp and Paper was assessed to have stable insurance policies and quantitative goals in areas comparable to biodiversity, vitality and water consumption, and GHG emissions.
The group was additionally recognised for its forward-thinking and environmentally-conscious use of different fuels comparable to biomass to enhance vitality effectivity and concurrently decrease carbon emission depth throughout its manufacturing cycle. Additionally, there have been a number of initiatives piloted by Asia Pulp & Paper that raised its Environmental evaluation and helped the corporate earn its ‘Outstanding’ ranking.
The first is the Forest Protection and Restoration Commitment under their broader Forest Conservation Policy, which sees Asia Pulp & Paper trying past merely defending forests inside the concession areas of suppliers. Instead, it has gone past expectations to work with varied stakeholders comparable to indigenous communities, NGOs, and authorities our bodies to droop the event of areas that aren’t forested. Under this coverage, impartial assessments of web sites that function High Conservation Forests (HCF) and High Carbon Stock (HCS) Forests will likely be recognized and guarded. A strict zero-tolerance coverage is enforced on suppliers and distributors who’re non-compliant or fail to abide by the Forest Protection and Restoration Commitments.
Asia Pulp & Paper has additionally meticulously mapped out an Integrated Fire Management (IFM) program that revolves around the prevention and timely resolution of potential forest fires. Implemented in 2016, the IFM takes a landscape-level strategy derived from international greatest practices for hearth administration and consists of 4 pillars: prevention, preparedness, early detection, and fast response.
Asia Pulp & Paper showcases how firms should take a collaborative strategy to forest administration and safety to totally put forth a long-term sustainability technique.
Ethics
Ethics was one other space of the EcoVadis evaluation the place Asia Pulp and Paper scored excessive with an ‘Advanced’ ranking. The group was assessed to have measurable goals associated to range, fairness, and inclusion (DEI) with a powerful degree of transparency inside its personal rank of workers and with exterior stakeholders comparable to indigenous and native communities.
The vital coverage driving this outlook is the tenet of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) underneath Asia Pulp & Paper’s Forest Conservation Policy. Conflict-resolution measures – whether or not within the type of mapping land disputes, establishing new subcommittees to deal with land dispute decision, or creating and implementing working plans to handle particular conflicts – are additionally performed to reach at a good and justifiable answer for all events concerned.
The outcomes of those proactive efforts had been evident in 2020, with 55% of land disputes dealt with by Asia Pulp & Paper being resolved effectively. That quantity has been rising, with Asia Pulp & Paper reinforcing its dedication and revising its technique to recognise the complexity of village politics and the implicit have to forge shared understanding between stakeholders.
Labor & Human Rights
As certainly one of Indonesia’s largest built-in paper and pulp producers, Asia Pulp and Paper recognises its duty to guard and uphold the welfare, labor, and human rights of its staff and stakeholders inside and out of doors of the group.
The group’s work within the Labor & Human Rights criterion of the EcoVadis evaluation has earned it a ‘Moderate’ ranking to this point, which belies the significant work performed on the bottom with indigenous communities inside and close by Asia Pulp & Paper’s concession areas. This could be most clearly seen by the launch of the Desa Makmur Peduli Api (DMPA) program in 2015.
Developed with an built-in forestry and farming system in thoughts, the DMPA program has concerned 394 villages and 92 girls teams from 5 areas throughout Indonesia thus far. Indigenous villages underneath the DMPA are given the assets and funding wanted to take part in actions that promote different sources of revenue as a option to uplift the village to a stronger financial stature.
During 2020 and 2021 when the COVID-19 pandemic was posing a problem for a lot of indigenous communities throughout the nation, DMPA villages had been launched to actions comparable to honey cultivation, fruit and vegetable agriculture, and the sale of natural drinks to assist them preserve their revenue and livelihood. The DMPA program has additionally constantly supplied its stakeholders with routine digital transformation webinars to information communities on using the digital market to develop their companies and interact in sustainable avenues of revenue.
The DMPA program has additionally gone all the way down to the bottom to immediately educate stakeholders on long-term financial empowerment, notably with regard to uplifting the financial standing of ladies in these communities. Through a partnership with the Doktor Sjahrir Foundation (DSF), Asia Pulp & Paper has invited girls residing in and round its concession areas to take part within the Kalimantan Rattan Project for sources of different livelihood. After present process coaching periods by the Project, girls throughout 2 villages (Mengkiang and Miau Baru) have since produced 600 crafts and counting since 2019.
A key driver behind these social initiatives is Asia Pulp & Paper’s recognition of the helpful social and financial impacts of uplifting indigenous villages out of poverty. By providing varied varieties of assets and help for communities to faucet on, the group is ready to assist villages envision different modes of livelihood which might be each sustainable and significant to implement in the long run.
Sustainable Procurement
Finally, Asia Pulp and Paper has additionally achieved a ‘Moderate’ within the Sustainable Procurement part of EcoVadis’ evaluation, and continues to refine its procurement methods in keeping with greatest practices really useful by the business.
One initiative pioneered by Asia Pulp & Paper on this space is the Integrated Sustainable Forest Management Plan (ISFMP) which was developed by an extended collaborative course of involving compiling and consolidating knowledge concerning HCF and HCF areas. These knowledge factors type the blueprint for the sustainable administration of land assets in every of Asia Pulp & Paper’s provider concessions. Specific ISMFPs carried out by Asia Pulp & Paper additionally immediately function motion plans for suppliers to enhance sustainability and administration practices on the bottom.
Suppliers that fail to stick to their ISFMPs are thought-about persona non-grata by Asia Pulp & Paper. The group has additionally pledged to actively forfeit all enterprise dealings with firms underneath this label. While this measure may appear draconian to some, it displays the renewed dedication by the group to pursue sustainable improvement from the bottom up.
Learning from Initiatives and the Near Future
The initiatives that Asia Pulp and Paper have rolled out are simply the tip of the iceberg, and the group is all the time looking out for tactics to refine and enhance its eco-awareness in any respect ranges. Despite having attained a great displaying in EcoVadis’ current evaluation, Asia Pulp & Paper continues strengthening its measures to strengthen its sustainability technique.
Companies looking for to embark on new eco-aware ventures can have a look at Asia Pulp & Paper’s mixture of ground-up and top-down insurance policies to stability the sensible calls for of producing and enterprise with the realities of long-term sustainable improvement.
