Building a Resilient Future: APRIL Group Releases 2021 Sustainability Report

APRIL Group has published its 2021 Sustainability Report, detailing the company’s progress and its performance against its sustainability commitments. The following is APRIL President Praveen Singhavi’s message from the Report.

As the largest employer and one of the largest investors in Riau Province, Indonesia, we play a significant role in the local economy, in Indonesia’s progress towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and in helping the country reach its national emissions targets. Under APRIL2030, we committed to deliver a positive impact on climate, nature and people, and we have a responsibility to fulfill this.

The products we make from biodegradable and renewable natural sources mean we’re now a driver in the emerging bio economy. It is therefore more important than ever that APRIL demonstrates leadership through our actions and progress towards addressing climate change risks and impacts in relation to our organisation and our stakeholders.

2021 was the first year of implementation towards achieving our APRIL2030 targets. Despite challenges posed by the pandemic, we upheld our commitment to move towards their delivery. We believe that diligent, science-based actions and strong partnerships, whether new or existing, are key to meeting our APRIL2030 targets.

During the year, we were able to confirm that significant productivity improvements had been achieved across our forestry plantations over the last three years, giving us the capability to be supply self-sufficient. We have managed to do this through dedicated research and development, without expanding our existing plantation forest area. This puts us squarely on the right path to achieving a 50 percent gain in fibre productivity by 2030 as one of our APRIL2030 targets.

Consistent with our commitment to make APRIL a climate positive company, we continued to invest in renewable energy sources, application of energy-efficient technologies, optimisation of energy use, and use of renewable resources throughout our business operations. We established the first megawatt of solar power generation capability and are on track to complete the installation of 20-megawatts of solar panels at our Kerinci site by 2025.

We completed the establishment of an Eco Camp and peat science research centre in our Restorasi Ekosistem Riau conservation and restoration area.

Partnerships with NGOs, the scientific community, local communities and others were central to our progress in 2021. We have commenced cooperation with the Wildlife Conservation Society and continued our long-standing collaboration with Fauna & Flora International. Our Independent Peat Expert Working Group continued to undertake research and guide our peatland landscape management approach.

We recognise there will be challenges to overcome as we continue to strive to meet our APRIL2030 targets. There will always be areas for improvement as we grow our businesses sustainably. We evaluate and continuously improve our approach to achieving our business and sustainability goals and are confident that further progress will be achieved in 2022 as we collaborate with stakeholders, build internal capabilities, and tap into market opportunities.

I am proud of our progress to date and grateful to our dedicated and growing teams, business leaders and partners who helped to move us forward despite the extraordinary pandemic situation. We will continue to manage our business and operations in a resilient and nimble manner, prioritizing the health and safety of our people as we strive to contribute to addressing the challenges of climate change and moving towards a low carbon economy.

Read Building a Resilient Future, APRIL Group’s 2021 Sustainability Report.