South America - Environmental Paper Network

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 […]

More than 50 NGOs call for justice for Rosane Santiago Silveira

The Environmental Paper Network and its members are extremely concerned by the torture and murder of Rosane Santiago Silveira, a mother and environmental and human rights activist who was killed in Brazil on January 29, 2019, and send our deepest condolences to her family. This weekend, more than 50 non-governmental organizations sent a letter seeking […]

The Paper and Packaging Boom: A Growing Wave Of Pulp Production Threatens The World’s Forests And Climate

At a time when forest protection to fight climate change is a clear and critical opportunity, we are seeing plans and investments for quite the opposite. After over two years of stagnation, the virgin pulp industry is booming. The list that follows below, highlights the many specific examples of the virgin fibre pulp capacity expansion […]

The hidden land conflicts of Suzano – the world’s largest pulp producer

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.22″ fb_built=”1″ bb_built=”1″ _i=”0″ _address=”0″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” _i=”0″ _address=”0.0″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” _i=”0″ _address=”0.0.0″ custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.27.4″ _i=”0″ _address=”0.0.0.0″] In the northeast of Brazil, where the Amazon transitions to the Catinga biome through a small strip of Cerrado, lies almost 60% of the land that Brazilian paper producer Suzano uses to source […]

Banks should demand high ESG criteria on Suzano-Fibria deal

The acquisition of Fibria by Suzano has created the world’s largest pulp company with a production capacity of 8.6 million tonnes a year. This can be both a threat and an opportunity from a social and environmental perspective. Big companies can have big impacts. But they also have a leading role, and any improvements on […]

Is Brazil’s huge planned pulp expansion sustainable? Discussion Document

A new discussion document – Expansion of the Brazilian Pulp Industry – aims to trigger a debate about the world’s hot spot for planned increases in pulp and paper industry production. Brazil’s production of pulp for paper is growing faster than any other country’s. This discussion document summarises key data and insights into the environmental […]