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APP Climate Change Fact Sheet
APP Climate Change Fact Sheet
APP Climate Change Fact Sheet
1.
FIRE PREVENTION KEY TO CUTTING
CARBON EMISSIONS
The leading cause of carbon emissions in Indonesia is forest fires, which may be caused by natural occurrences like lightning strikes or may
be caused my people attempting to clear forestlands for agricultural uses.
APP enforces a strict No Burn policy since 1996 and has established Indonesia’s first forest firefighting network. The majority of Indonesia’s
Greenhouse Gas emissions result from forest fire caused by slash and burn activities to clear forest land for crops. APP and its pulpwood sup-
pliers’ team of 850 firefighters protect not only the pulpwood plantations, but also national parks and surrounding rainforests.
APP’s suppliers have created programs to provide local farmers with agricultural land so they do not destroy forestland for planting.
APP’s 850-person forest firefighter force controls fires on plantations and in nearby rainforests.
2.
KEY FACTS: CLIMATE CHANGE
(Conservation, Carbon Footprint, Peatland)
The study used standard tools and guidelines to Plantation carbon sequestration:
• APP pulpwood plantations sequester 33 tons of carbon per hect-
estimate GHG emissions from pulp and paper are per year. According to US EPA estimates, this is equivalent to
mills, such as: taking 1.9 million cars off the road per year.
• ICFPA (2005) Calculation tools • Paper products also continue to store carbon absorbed by the
pulpwood plantation trees.
• WRI (2004) Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting
and Reporting Standard, as well as WRI (2006) The Greenhouse Next steps:
Gas Protocol: The Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry • The initial carbon footprint assessment led to a series of specific
Guidance for GHG Project Accounting initiatives to further reduce APP’s carbon emissions. These
increase plant efficiency, reduce reliance on fossil fuel and
• IPCC (2006) Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inven- increase recycling.
tories, as well as IPCC (2003) Good Practice Guidance for Land
Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry • Today, APP is conducting carbon footprint monitoring. The
new study’s scope has been expanded to assess more aspects
• NCASI (2001) Technologies for reducing Carbon Dioxide of operations to help APP continue its ongoing improvement
emissions: A resource manual for pulp, paper, and wood program to reduce carbon emissions and lower the company’s
products manufacturers and all appropriate methodology tools impact on the environment.
approved by the UNFCCC.
• The carbon footprint for the pulp and paper sector in North
America, excluding plantation sequestration, is reported to be
in the range of 1.46 to 2.20 tCO2e/tonne product (Worrell et al,
2001). The APP production facilities’ Carbon Footprint of 1.56
tCO2/t-paper, excluding plantation sequestration, is at the low
end of the sector average.
3.
THE NEW STUDY: Methodology, scope and boundary
PHASE 1: Identify and analyze all gaps in the 2006 carbon footprint report that need to be filled for APP to achieve full consistency with
the GHG Protocol and ISO 14064.
PHASE 2: Using Phase 1 findings, APP’s carbon footprints for 2007 and 2008 will be assessed. Emission evaluations will follow WRI/
WBCSD Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocols, using the ICFPA (International Council of Forest and Paper Association) / NCASI (National Council
for Air and Steam Improvement) carbon footprint tool and requirements set by ISO 14064. Current IPCC standards will be used in carbon
sequestration and sink calculations, which will cover APP fiber suppliers’ plantations and wood sources for APP pulp and paper mills. Carbon
data for post consumer waste paper supply will be calculated using the best publicly available data.
PHASE 3: An ISO 14044 consistent assessment of the full gate-to-end usage emissions of three common paper products will
be conducted.
PHASE 4: A desktop analysis and feasibility study, based on potential GHG reduction programs, will present potential absolute and
percentage reductions in the APP carbon footprint over time that are possible.
4.
CARBON FOOTPRINT OF PULPWOOD PLANTATIONS
• Unlike the pulp and paper industry in developed nations, which - The study year, 1997, saw an unusual number of forest
started many centuries ago, Indonesia’s pulp and paper industry fires in Kalimantan. The region experienced unusually dry
began in 1960s. Most Indonesian pulpwood plantations were conditions that year, the result of both El Nino and Indian
established in the 1990s. Ocean Dipole weather conditions.
• All of Indonesia’s forests are owned by the Government of - Data from Kalimantan’s unusual weather and fire
Indonesia. The government allocates just 3 percent of its total conditions – which led to an unusual number of forest fires
landmass for pulpwood plantation concessions. These pulp- that year – were extrapolated to all of Indonesia. This
wood plantation areas are defined by the government as low effectively concluded that all of Indonesia emitted the
value, degraded land; peat land, and wasteland. same amount of carbon, every year.
• Having learned from the forest management mistakes of - Other expert studies, such as Levine (1999), Duncan
developed nations, Indonesia takes a more cautious approach et al. (2003), Heil, Langmann and Aldrian (2007) and
to managing the nation’s forests – including plantation areas. others disagree with Page’s findings, yet those findings
It requires that multiple socio-environmental assessments have been embraced by many environmental groups.
be conducted before forest land is developed into pulpwood
plantations. These assessments are meant to identify and - This data is not relevant to total forestry carbon emission
protect high conservation value forests and critical peatlands of Indonesia, which has different land use, soil type and
found in the areas designated by the government for pulpwood different natural occurrences throughout the years.
plantation use.
- But the fact remains that the main source of carbon
QUESTIONS ABOUT PEATLAND AND emission in Indonesia is forest fire.
CLIMATE CHANGE
• Sustainable peatland management is a new science. To date, Most of APP’s raw material is pulpwood
there is no body of data supported by scientific consensus
grown in Indonesia. Many Government of
determining the carbon impact of plantations in Indonesian
peatland. Indonesia pulpwood concessions in Riau
province are located on peatland areas.
• A UNDP-supported Indonesian Government’s Second National Forestlands, especially low-lands and peat-
Communication, a report on Indonesia’s emissions, was submit- lands designated for production forestry,
ted to the UN on November 23, 2009. It said Indonesia’s GHG would be rapidly degraded because:
emissions in 2000 were around 1,415,988 gigagrams, less than
half the number cited in an earlier, controversial World Bank - There is no oversight from a responsible
study. management authority.
WORLD BANK CARBON EMISSIONS - Poverty pressures some people to slash and burn
land to clear forests for sustenance farming.
DATA CHALLENGED
• The World Bank data, which is often cited by WWF, Greenpeace,
- The presence of plantations provides active forest
Wetlands International, Rainforest Action Network and Japan
management and creates buffer areas that prevent en
Tropical Forest Action Network, is based on one study by Susann
croachment and illegal occupation.
Page, et al, conducted in one year, in one Indonesian region,
Kalimantan, the Indonesian portion of the Island of Borneo.
Kalimantan has an area of 58.3 million hectares, representing
less than 31 percent of Indonesia’s total landmass. The report
has been challenged for several reasons:
5.
APP’s pulpwood suppliers are committed to responsible
management of low-lands by:
- Developing plantations or reforesting degraded peatlands designated by the government for production forestry.
- Responsible water management in peatlands to create an environment for tree growth while limiting the subsidence of peat.
- Active fire prevention and suppression management in cooperation with local communities.
- Setting aside natural peat swamp forest of unique and special merit for permanent conservation and carbon storage.
- Preservation and enhancement of forest areas of special merit identified and set aside for conservation.
- Developing areas zoned for production forestry that were previously logged and degraded forestlands.
- Full scientific assessments on peatland pulpwood plantation and its impact on carbon emissions have never been done before,
until APP stepped in.
- In July 2010, APP, Agriculture Institute of Bogor and international peatland experts signed an agreement to conduct a full
scientific assessment on carbon impacts of APP’s pulpwood supplier concessions in Sumatra.
• It will measure Green House Gases (CO2, CH4 and Nox) by collecting gas emission samples; monitoring water tables, water flow and
water’s chemical aspects; checking the soil’s chemical, physical and biological characteristics; monitoring biomass; checking climate
data, and determining the social, economy and culture of the surrounding communities.
• Results of this assessment, expected in 2012, will be used to determine and implement the best sustainable pulpwood plantation forest
management practices in Sumatra.
PEATLAND PRESERVATION
• APP protects peatland on the plantation concessions assigned by the Government of Indonesia to its forestry suppliers in two key ways:
- By setting aside critical peatlands that scientists have identified as high value conservation areas. These set asides create
sanctuaries that will protect the high value areas from disturbance.
- By maintaining a water table high enough to protect peat deposits in areas that are not identified as high value conservation
areas, ensuring that even peat areas that fail to meet Government of Indonesia requirements for preservation continue to store
carbon for years to come.
• APP has built canals in some peat areas to lower the water table enough to plant pul trees on the government-assigned lands. However,
the company carefully maintains ground water levels to protect and seal the peat, ensuring it continues to store carbon even as the
surface is used for renewable timber production.
• It is the first privately funded conversion of pulpwood plantation concessions into a carbon reserve.
• • All carbon credit revenues from will be reinvested in programs to create opportunities for local villagers to provide alternatives to
traditional agricultural practices that involve illegal logging.
Conserving Resources
APP continually seeks ways to reduce its use of natural resources. This includes:
• Recycling production water to dramatically reduce consumption.
• Making sure waste water discharged from our mills exceeds most global standards (toughest standard used for comparison):
- Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD): 1.1-1.8 from APP mills; US standard is 8.05.
- Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD): 11-18 from APP mills; World Bank standard is 15.
- Total Suspended Solids (TSS): 1.3-3.1 from APP mills; Swedish standard is 4.
- Adsorbable Organic Halogen (AOX): 0.2-0.4 from APP mills; World Bank: 0.2-2.0.
• Cutting by 50 percent the amount of wood fiber used to make quality paper.
8.