South America - Environmental Paper Network

Testimonies of impacts from pulp and plantations, at the People’s Summit

Yesterday, at an event organized by EPN and its partners at the People’s Summit, in Santiago de Chile, people from different regions and countries denounced the impacts caused by plantations for the pulp and paper industry, and discussed their similarities. In Chile, the plantation industry made its great boom during the dictatorship of Pinochet, when […]

Thousands march again in Montevideo against UPM pulp mill

Last Friday, thousands gathered in Montevideo to participate in another march opposing UPM 2, the Paso de los Toros pulp mill plan in Uruguay. The march was organized by the National Coordination against UPM, which gathers over 60 organizations. “The contract that has been signed with UPM will damaged the economic, social and environmental interest […]

Mapuche communities face water stress caused by the forestry industry in Chile

(Photo: Planta de Celulosa Arauco en Mariquina | INDH) A field observation mission by the Chilean National Institute of Human Rights (INDH) revealed that Mapuche communities in the Mariquina commune, in the Los Ríos Region, face water shortages and pollution caused by the forestry industry, reports Rio en Linea. According to the article, the INDH […]

All Uruguayan political parties at debate question contract between government and UPM

During a roundtable debate with environmental experts from political parties that are participating in the upcoming national elections in Uruguay, all participants expressed their concerns regarding the contract signed between the Government and UPM, the multinational pulp and paper company based in Finland. In this controversial contract, UPM agreed to invest in a new large […]

Uruguayan citizens opposing UPM’s new pulp mill appeal to the Finnish government

In Uruguay, the citizen opposition to a new pulp mill planned by the Finnish paper giant UPM continues to grow. Last Friday, a citizen movement calling itself as the “national coordination of social organisations against UPM”, representing more than 40 organisations and campaigning under #UPM2NO, went to the Consulate of Finland in Uruguay. They handed […]

UPM’s Paso de los Toros mill poses financial and reputational risks

In Uruguay, protests are rising against the installation of UPM’s planned new pulp mill project in Paso de los Toros. There has been strong social criticism on the conditions of the contract that the government signed with UPM, on the expected impacts of the pulp mill as well as on the impacts of the associate […]

Chilean pulp mill’s major expansion could fuel conflicts

In Chile, Arauco, the country’s second largest pulp producer, has started building a new 1.56 million tonnes/year pulp line at its Horcones mill, in the Biobío region. This project, called MAPA, is problematic as it is likely to fuel land conflicts, especially with the indigenous Mapuche people. It is also expected to lead to an […]

Green bonds used to finance damaging industrial tree plantations

Green Bonds are used to finance business-as-usual tree plantations and operations of the paper & pulp industry and claiming exaggerated CO2 savings, a new briefing by the Environmental Paper Network (EPN) shows. The briefing presents a case study of a Green Bond issued by the Brazilian pulp & paper giant Fibria, even though the company […]

Uruguayan and Finnish organisations issue statement against UPM’s plans for new pulp mill in Uruguay

Uruguayan and Finnish social and environmental organisations released a joint statement last week stating their opposition to the plans of the Finnish pulp and paper company UPM to build a new pulp mill in Uruguay (UPM also has an existing mill in Fray Bentos). This new mill would have a capacity of around 2 million […]