Written by Sadaf Sultan and Phoa Ee Hui
Asia Pulp and Paper Group (APP) is an Indonesian company based in Singapore. It is one of the largest producers of paper, pulp and packaging in the world. APP sources mainly from Indonesian suppliers with concessions in Indonesian forests.
In 2015, Southeast Asia was blanketed with dense air pollution (haze), caused mainly by forest fires in Indonesia set by farmers/collectives as part of slash-and-burn agriculture. The large scale environmental disaster affected Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia, and some parts of Thailand and the Philippines.
In Southeast Asia, the haze generally coincides with the dry Southwest monsoon season. The dry surface conditions enable local residents from provinces in Sumatra and Kalimantan to rapidly clear land either for subsistence farming, or for commercial palm oil and timber plantations. The prevailing winds then move the smoke towards Singapore and Malaysia.
Seasonal changes in rainfall patterns are likely in the future because of projected increases in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere over the next century. The Centre for Climate Research Singapore reported that less Southwest monsoon rainfall is expected. The projected future decrease in rainfall is unambiguous over regions in Sumatra and Borneo where current hot spots are located, meaning these areas are likely to be drier, aggravating the haze issue.
Singapore’s Environment and Water Resources Minister publicly named five companies as possible culprits behind forest fires in concession land in Indonesia. APP became Singapore’s biggest target in the fight against the haze. This was partly due to APP’s large operations, and that two of the other companies named are APP’s suppliers.
APP maintains that it has a zero-burning policy for all suppliers and that 90% of the fires were occurring outside of its concessions. Satellite imagery indicated otherwise, and this finding was published in the public domain.
Public backlash culminated in a boycott of APP’s products.
APP is now faced with an onslaught of bad publicity that is damaging to its reputation, a public boycott of its goods, and immense pressure from the Singapore and Indonesian governments to put an end to forest fires in its concession land.
Further, APP faces potentially stiff economic sanctions. If the Singapore government concludes that APP is conclusively guilty, Singapore law imposes a fine of SGD100,000 per day that APP contribute to unhealthy levels of haze pollution in Singapore, subject to a maximum total of SGD2 million.
In an effort to do some damage control, APP was the first company to put their concession maps and suppliers online for public scrutiny. The company reshaped interests by highlighting a shift in goal towards sustainable forestry (with a strict no-burning policy) as a top priority, with the profit-maximising goal taking the backseat for now.
APP has also published their “Sustainability Roadmap Vision 2020”, and a “Forest Conservation Policy”. The policies apply to their entire supply chain. APP is working with The Forest Trust (TFT) and a number of other NGOs and stakeholders to oversee their implementation of the policies and to monitor progress.
APP can do more by quickly developing a response on the basis of a clear, consistent, integrated strategy, and take the first step to speedily disengage with suppliers which practise slash-and-burn agriculture, would ensure adherence with Singapore and ASEAN laws on haze pollution. This step towards environmental protection can strengthen APP’s sustainable forestry campaign, and appeal to consumers. It is therefore imperative for APP to obtain the enhanced green label for pulp and paper products, newly introduced by the SEC in January 2017. To get their products certified, APP must improve their peatland management and commit to the early detection and suppression of fires when they do occur, over and above the existing requirement of zero-burning on their plantations. As seen from above, the SEC’s green label was once a rallying point for consumer action against APP – the time is ripe for APP to redeem itself now with the timely introduction of the enhanced green label.
(650 words)
Sources:
· Assigning Blame For the Haze. By: Jetley, Neerja Pawha, Forbes Asia, 17932181, Dec2015, Vol. 11, Issue 14
· Southeast Asian haze. By: Hahn, Allison, PhD, Popan, Elena, MA, Salem Press Encyclopedia of Science, January, 2016
· Haze fallout: NTUC FairPrice, Sheng Siong withdraw all APP paper products, Channel News Asia, 7 October 2015
· The Political Economy of Fire and Haze in Indonesia, Center for International Forestry Research, 30 June 2015
· Indonesia’s biggest paper firm back in the spotlight, The Straits Times, 27 September 2015
· Indonesian government confused over Singapore’s help for haze situation, Hans Nicholas Jong and Ina Parlina, The Jakarta Post / Asia News Network, 3 October 2015
· Why ASEAN (and Indonesia) can’t solve the haze; Blame local politics, Scott Edwards, The Diplomat, 20 November 2015
· Enhanced green label for pulp and paper products sets higher standards of environmental performance: Consumers asked to support companies doing the right thing, Singapore Environment Council, 10 January 2017
· How climate change will affect transboundary haze, Winston Chow, 8 October 2015
Is anything known about APP’s role during 2016 forest fires? It would be great to see if the public pressure that forced the company into the commitment to fight forest fires, actually had lasting effects or if the company will revert to old practices once public attention shifts to other topics.
Interesting example for early involvement/cooperating with the government as a preemptive strategy to reduce political risk. IPA prof would be proud of you.
Infact this haze issue came up as a very interesting topic in Insurance industry. Some travelers who faced trip disruptions due to the haze finally found that they cannot make claims for compensation under their travel insurance policies because haze is man-made and not a consequence of natural factors. So this haze in-effect had a wider impact in terms of travel, health and life insurance policies. These are some partners that Govt. can onboard to strengthen the policies against these activities.
As an asthmatic, I had trouble breathing when I first moved to Singapore due to the smog. I am thus exceedingly grateful that the Singaporean government is taking active steps to reduce haze, and that they are able to punish some of those potentially complicit in causing the pollution. I would be interested in learning more about what countries like Singapore can do or have done to act against countries or corporations producing excessive carbon dioxide emissions outside of their jurisdiction, particularly as a unilateral actor. For example, what actions, if any, has Singapore taken against Indonesia and Indonesian farmers collectives to discourage the utilisation of slash and burn agricultural techniques?