Pulp Finance - Environmental Paper Network

Forest fires in Chile – chronicle of a catastrophe foretold

Glenn Beltz/flicker (CC BY 2.0) At least 46 people have died, and more than 1,100 homes have been destroyed in the worst forest fires to hit Chile in a decade. In the first week of February, the fires have been commonly attributed to climate change. This is correct, but only part of the truth. What […]

Suzano’s ongoing disrespect for local communities and their traditional land

On 28 November, Mr. Antônio Sapezeiro, leader of the Quilombola community of Nova Vista in Sapê do Norte, São Mateus, (Espirito Santo, Brazil) was filmed lying, immobilised and defenceless, on the concrete road, surrounded by Suzano security guards and military police officers called by them. This is not uncommon behaviour for Suzano, the biggest pulp […]

Caustic soda spill at UPM controversial plant – more than 70 civil society organisations demand action from the Uruguayan government.

Over 70 Uruguayan and international civil society organisations wrote an open letter to the Uruguayan authorities to address the largest chemical spill in the history of Uruguay. The spill occurred in a pulp mill owned by UPM, a Finnish pulp and paper company. The demands of the organisations are twofold – a total shutdown of […]

New database names companies blacklisted by global investors and banks

The Hague/San Francisco, Oct 2, 2023. A coalition of NGOs has launched the Financial Exclusion Tracker: a new website that tracks which companies are being excluded by investors and banks for sustainability reasons. Most excluded corporations are barred due to links to fossil fuels, weapons or tobacco. This public dataset is the first of its […]

World Bank affiliate IFC approves loan for Suzano’s unsustainable project in Cerrado, ignoring warning from 40+ environmental groups

Christmas came early for Suzano, but at the cost of the world’s most biodiverse savannah: the Cerrado biome in Brazil. Last Friday, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), an arm of the World Bank, approved a USD 725 million loan to Suzano to build a new giant pulp mill project in Mato Grosso do Sul, in […]

Who is profiting from Paraguay’s biggest and most harmful pulp project?

In Paraguay, Paracel SA is building a new pulp mill, including a biomass power station and accompanying monoculture plantations. The project is well underway to severely violate indigenous rights and local communities’ rights and to inflict serious harm on biodiversity and the climate. Paracel has failed to provide complete, understandable and accessible information to the […]

Stolen land and fading forests in Chile

A new report from the Environmental Paper Network reveals another case of “Conflict Plantations,” this time in Chile. Since May 7th the military police have been sent again to garrison Araucania, Southern-central Chile, where the pulp & paper industry is embroiled in a longstanding conflict with the Mapuche indigenous people. This is not a good […]

Pulp & Finance: Indonesia pulp giants’ net-zero pledges are misleading, warn civil society

By Excluding Their Forestry Operations, The Pulp Companies Do Not Report The Biggest Source Of Their Emissions; Mill Expansions Are Set To Increase These Emissions. Ahead of a stakeholder meeting in which Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), one of Indonesia’s largest pulp & paper companies, is expected to make announcements regarding its ‘Net-Zero’ emissions pledge, […]

First test of ‘net zero’ bank commitments as pulp & paper giants seek finance for expansion that could torpedo Indonesia’s climate goals

Civil society groups warn that material risks to financial institutions haven’t been disclosed New analyses released today by a coalition of civil society organizations reveal significant material risk to banks and investors exposed to two of the world’s largest pulp and paper companies –– Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) and Asia Pacific Resources International (APRIL). […]