Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) has downgraded their long-standing commitment to no deforestation and peatland restoration with the announcement of its new 'Forest Positive Policy' today in Jakarta.

"Following the trend of many companies, APP has gone back to focusing on PR rather than changing on the ground by producing another piece of paper with lots of hollow commitments. APP's rollback of its cut-off date is nothing short of a deception of progress," said Kiki Taufik, Greenpeace Global Indonesian Forests Campaign Lead. "This allows APP to whitewash deforestation that devastated forests, peatlands, and Indigenous lands between 2013 and 2020, undermining both trust and global standards. This is not progress - it is greenwashing."

"APP has walked back on its commitment to No Deforestation in its supply chain by changing its cut-off date for deforestation from 2013 to the end of 2020, as well as dropping its commitment to following the High Carbon Stock Approach - the methodology for putting in place no deforestation on the ground," said Mr Taufik.

Between 2013 and 2022, investigations¹ revealed that APP and its suppliers destroyed tens of thousands of hectares of forests, including at least 75,000 hectares of critical ecosystems and 3,500 hectares of peatlands in Sumatra and Kalimantan. The new cut-off date means these destructive practices are now considered "acceptable" under APP's revised pledge.

In 2023, Greenpeace produced a 10-year progress report card on APP's performance against its policies, providing a compilation of evidence of ongoing breaches, broken promises, and ongoing harm to the environment and local communities.

"As well, there is notably no commitment to peatland protection or restoration; instead, it has taken the business-as-usual approach of just 'best management practices'. This will be a disaster for Indonesian peatlands that urgently need to be rewetted and restored to prevent their huge greenhouse gas emissions, as well as preventing haze-producing fires." added Kiki Taufik.

Notes:

1. See: Greenpeace 2023: APP Sinarmas: Promises Pulped. https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-international-stateless/2023/10/5267ad2c-app-10-year-report_241023_rev.pdf
2. See: Environmental Paper Network Report, 2025 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ss7GMvz05ZbYST-zcHCUQCxO6ZKWKH-l/view