KEY FACTS: CLIMATE CHANGE

(Conservation, Carbon Footprint, Peatland)

OVERVIEW The Story In Pictures:
APP’s business relies on self-sufficiency, The Same Scene,
conservation and sustainability. The company Three Years Apart
takes very seriously its commitment because
sustainability is critical to our future. As a result:
• APP has newer, more efficient paper-making technology,
which produces lower carbon emissions than most Northern
European or American paper makers.

• APP suppliers’ Indonesian pulpwood plantations sequester

30 times more carbon than Northern European or American
pulpwood plantations.

• APP’s pulpwood suppliers are afforesting around 800,000

hectares of denuded, repeatedly burnt, nutrient-depleted
wasteland in Indonesia; changing the land from carbo source
to carbon sink.
 BEFORE: Waste land in South Sumatra, where peat subsided
• Around 400,000 hectares of tropical forest are set aside for
more than 1 meter after repeated forest fires destroyed the area.
conservation, much of which provides massive carbon
Picture taken in 2004
storage, including:

- The 15,000-hectare Kampar Carbon Reserve, the first

plantation-carbon reserve conversion in the world.

- The 170,000-hectare Giam Siak Kecil Bukit Batu

Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO preserve that protects
biodiversity and sequesters vast amounts of carbon,
significantly aiding Indonesia’s goal of reducing
greenhouse gas emissions and encouraging
sustainable economic development.

• APP suppliers planted 950 million trees in last three years –

three trees for each one used to make paper.

• APP’s supplier is committed to planting 1 million indigenous

trees in support of the Government of Indonesia’s initiative
to plant 1 billion trees in the country.
• Trees on APP Indonesia plantations grow to full maturity in
six years, not the 60-80 years as in Europe.
AFTER: Eighteen months of Acacia cras-
sicarpa growth after the land becomes an
APP sustainable pulpwood plantation.
Picture taken in March 2007

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.

CARBON FOOTPRINT APP’s Carbon-Socio Assessment

• As climate change has become a critical issue, the world is looking
• The carbon footprint assessed the production year from 1st
for ways to reduce its carbon footprint, generally measured by the
January 2006 to 31st December 2006. It looked at operations
emission of Greenhouse Gases (GHG). APP became the industry’s
and power generation facilities of each mill. Overall, the study
first pulp and paper company to conduct a carbon-socio footprint
was divided into three components:
assessment in 2007.
1. Plantations. The study assessed sequestration within APP’s
• The landmark assessment was done before many industrial firms
Indonesian pulpwood plantation stock and harvesting emissions
had even considered such initiatives. It was designed to identify
directly associated with the mills. The goal was to calculate impact
social footprint and improvement strategy, carbon footprint
up to the point where harvested logs are delivered to the mills;
baseline, opportunities to quickly improve APP operations and
further reduce its carbon emissions.
2. Kraft Pulp. The study measured Greenhouse Gas (GHG)
emissions associated with the production of Leaf Bleached Kraft Pulp
• The foundation of any carbon footprint assessment is the
(LBKP) pulp; and
methodology used, scope and boundary. The scope and boundary
of APP’s initial first carbon were benchmarked against the
3. Paper Production. The study assessed Greenhouse Gas
standards then common to the global pulp and paper industry’s
(GHG) emissions associated with the production of base paper, up to
approach to carbon footprint assessments.
jumbo roll.

 
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
• WRI (2004) Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting
and Reporting Standard, as well as WRI (2006) The Greenhouse
Gas Protocol: The Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry
Guidance for GHG Project Accounting
• IPCC (2006) Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inven-
tories, as well as IPCC (2003) Good Practice Guidance for Land
Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry
• NCASI (2001) Technologies for reducing Carbon Dioxide
emissions: A resource manual for pulp, paper, and wood
products manufacturers and all appropriate methodology tools
approved by the UNFCCC.
• Paper products also continue to store carbon absorbed by the
pulpwood plantation trees.
Next steps:
• The initial carbon footprint assessment led to a series of specific
initiatives to further reduce APP’s carbon emissions. These
increase plant efficiency, reduce reliance on fossil fuel and
increase recycling.
• Today, APP is conducting carbon footprint monitoring. The
new study’s scope has been expanded to assess more aspects
of operations to help APP continue its ongoing improvement
program to reduce carbon emissions and lower the company’s
impact on the environment.

• Appropriate methodology tools approved by the UNFCCC.

The Assessment found:

• The weighted average of APP’s carbon footprints for all eight
APP mills, based on 2006 operational data from the mills was
1.56 tCO2/t-paper.

• 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.

• APP’s carbon footprint in 2006, factoring in plantation

sequestration, reduces considerably to a weighted average
footprint of 0.03 tCO2e/t-paper. The reduction of footprint
is due to the absorption of CO2 by the APP’s plantations in
Riau, Jambi, and South Sumatra provinces with the total net
sequestration of 10,098,215 tCO2 for the year 2006.
 APP’s paper carbon footprint is at the low end
of North American standard.

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.

  Eucalyptus pelita plantation, ready for harvest

4.
CARBON FOOTPRINT OF PULPWOOD PLANTATIONS
• Unlike the pulp and paper industry in developed nations, which
started many centuries ago, Indonesia’s pulp and paper industry
began in 1960s. Most Indonesian pulpwood plantations were
established in the 1990s.
• All of Indonesia’s forests are owned by the Government of
Indonesia. The government allocates just 3 percent of its total
landmass for pulpwood plantation concessions. These pulp-
wood plantation areas are defined by the government as low
value, degraded land; peat land, and wasteland.
• Having learned from the forest management mistakes of
developed nations, Indonesia takes a more cautious approach
to managing the nation’s forests – including plantation areas.
It requires that multiple socio-environmental assessments
be conducted before forest land is developed into pulpwood
plantations. These assessments are meant to identify and
protect high conservation value forests and critical peatlands
found in the areas designated by the government for pulpwood
plantation use.
QUESTIONS ABOUT PEATLAND AND
CLIMATE CHANGE
• Sustainable peatland management is a new science. To date,
there is no body of data supported by scientific consensus
determining the carbon impact of plantations in Indonesian
peatland.
• A UNDP-supported Indonesian Government’s Second National
Communication, a report on Indonesia’s emissions, was submit-
ted to the UN on November 23, 2009. It said Indonesia’s GHG
emissions in 2000 were around 1,415,988 gigagrams, less than
half the number cited in an earlier, controversial World Bank
study.
WORLD BANK CARBON EMISSIONS
DATA CHALLENGED
• The World Bank data, which is often cited by WWF, Greenpeace,
Wetlands International, Rainforest Action Network and Japan
Tropical Forest Action Network, is based on one study by Susann
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:
- The study year, 1997, saw an unusual number of forest
fires in Kalimantan. The region experienced unusually dry
conditions that year, the result of both El Nino and Indian
Ocean Dipole weather conditions.
- Data from Kalimantan’s unusual weather and fire
conditions – which led to an unusual number of forest fires
that year – were extrapolated to all of Indonesia. This
effectively concluded that all of Indonesia emitted the
same amount of carbon, every year.
- Other expert studies, such as Levine (1999), Duncan
et al. (2003), Heil, Langmann and Aldrian (2007) and
others disagree with Page’s findings, yet those findings
have been embraced by many environmental groups.
- This data is not relevant to total forestry carbon emission
of Indonesia, which has different land use, soil type and
different natural occurrences throughout the years.
- But the fact remains that the main source of carbon
emission in Indonesia is forest fire.
Most of APP’s raw material is pulpwood
grown in Indonesia. Many Government of
Indonesia pulpwood concessions in Riau
province are located on peatland areas.
Forestlands, especially low-lands and peat-
lands designated for production forestry,
would be rapidly degraded because:
- There is no oversight from a responsible
management authority.
- Poverty pressures some people to slash and burn
land to clear forests for sustenance farming.
- The presence of plantations provides active forest
management and creates buffer areas that prevent en
croachment and illegal occupation.
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.

- Water management on peatlands.

- 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.

Peat marshland in Sumatra

 
6.
APP STUDIES PEATLAND EMISSIONS
• Though the Government of Indonesia decides how specific forest land is used, APP decided in 2010 to conduct a two-year assessment of
peatlands in its concession areas. The goal is to assess the impact of plantation operations on underground peat reserves. Assessments are
tailored to the unique peat deposits and soil conditions at each study site to ensure a precise assessment.

- 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.

Methodology, scope and boundary:

• The assessment will measure and calculate carbon budget of pulpwood plantations on different peatland soil types in Sumatra through-
out all seasons of a year.

• 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.

Peatland plantation water level management: Desired water level is 50- 80 cm

 
7.
 KAMPAR CARBON RESERVE
• After years of study APP and Carbon Conservation created the Kampar Carbon Reserve in October 2010. APP worked with the Indonesian
Ministry of Forestry, land concession holder PT. Putra Riau Perkasa (PRP), and local stakeholders to re-allocate more than 15,000 hectares
of deep peat carbon sink from pulpwood plantation to conservation land. Kampar Reserve is a unique way to preserve a high value
conservation area containing deep peat deposits that store vast amounts of carbon.

• 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.

• Producing power from production byproducts.

 Peatland plantation water level management:

Desired water level is 50- 80 cm

8.