We started with the recognition of the global imperatives – to achieve the 2030 development agenda, meet climate targets of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees C, and support the call for greater protection for nature. These were the bases for the key commitment pillars: Climate Positive, Thriving Landscapes, Inclusive Progress, and Sustainable Growth.

We then reviewed industry benchmarks and also consulted very closely with our leadership team so we could define the level of ambition for the targets. These targets need to be on par with global and national ambitions, are stretched and challenging for our company, while also achievable. The draft targets were then presented to our operational management teams in an internal workshop for review and validation. Finally, we conferred with our advisors and key stakeholders for their inputs.

Once the targets were set, we then identified the key metrics and established the baselines using 2019 data for assurance by KPMG PRI. So all in all we have four commitment pillars, 18 targets and 35 indicators.

APRIL2030 aims to support the Indonesian government in achieving its climate, biodiversity conservation and development goals. Given our operational presence, our support will be mainly through implementation on the ground at the district and village levels.

APRIL2030 supports the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals at the national level in Indonesia and more importantly at the village level in the province of Riau. Since 2018, we have been working with PwC Singapore on a process to identify our priority SDGs and have selected 4 as Core (SDGs 12, 13, 15 and 17) and three as Catalytic (SDGs 3, 4, 6) priorities. The alignment of our targets against relevant SDG targets are presented here.

APRIL2030 builds on our Sustainable Forest Management Policy (SFMP) 2.0 and on the progress made in its implementation over the last five years. We will continue to adhere to these commitments, with our performance reviewed and reported on by the Stakeholder Advisory Committee and an independent assurance party.

For each of the 18 targets under the four commitment pillars, we have defined performance indicators, resulting in 35 performance metrics for the whole of APRIL2030. In order to measure progress against the targets, we have established the baseline for most of the indicators using 2019 data. These baselines have been independently verified by KPMG PRI Canada as being fit for purpose and accurate.

APRIL2030 is owned at all levels of APRIL. The senior leadership team has been part of the process from the beginning, setting the levels of ambition, providing strategic guidance, and committing the necessary resources from the development phase in 2019 through to implementation over the next 10 years.

Each commitment pillar has a Champion who is a senior member of management and each Champion has formed working groups for the key targets. These working groups have developed action plans that will be part of the operational and management plan starting in 2021. This means APRIL2030 targets will already be embedded in the individual KPIs and in the regular monitoring and reporting done within our company.

Reporting on the performance against the targets will be part of the operational monitoring and reporting., and progress reporting in our annual Sustainability Report, as well as specific milestone reporting potentially in 2023, 2025 and 2030.

Achieving net zero emissions from land use and the 25% reduction in product emissions intensity is absolutely challenging but we are committed to meeting these targets.

We support science-based target setting and have signed-up with The Science-Based Target Initiative to learn and contribute to the network, particularly in the land use sector. For close to four years now, we have been measuring our GHG emissions in our peatland plantations and recently, in our mineral soil plantations through the four GHG eddy covariance towers that we have installed. Using the primary data that we have generated and other inputs, we have measured our carbon footprint (scopes 1 and 3).

We will employ a range of emissions reduction and mitigation strategies both in our forestry and manufacturing operations to achieve our targets, including, for example, more continuous improvements in responsible peatland management, increased conservation and restoration initiatives, and shift to renewable energy sources. We do not claim to know all the answers or have all the solutions right now but we are willing to be part of this process of developing solutions with other stakeholders or partners in the coming years.

We will reduce our product carbon emissions by using more biomass fuels and reducing energy consumption per tonne of product manufactured. We are targeting 90% of mill energy from renewables.

We will source 50% of our fiber operations energy needs from renewables and cleaner energy sources. We are already implementing B30 diesel which is 30% biomass, and we are converting some of our log transport trucks to natural gas engines as a test towards a lower emission future. Achieving our mill emission targets involves using a higher percentage of biomass and reducing the mill’s energy needs to become more efficient.

APRIL2030 covers our own operations and our supply partners. We will also engage our entire value chain in support of our 2030 targets, and we hope to encourage and influence others to pursue the same level of ambition.

Fire prevention and management is already embedded in our operations. Our Fire Free Village Program has proven its effectiveness over the past five years and continues to be scaled through the Fire Free Alliance. With this operational infrastructure firmly in place, we can focus on other areas of importance through APRIL2030.

We have just completed the construction of an Eco Camp for our Restorasi Ekosistem Riau programme which will also serve as the Tropical Peatland Science Hub. We want to encourage and support tropical peatland science research by national and international scientists and academics. We also welcome stakeholders who wish to experience ecosystem restoration work on the ground.

This is part of APRIL’s commitment to peatland conservation and advancing the scientific understanding of tropical peat-swamp forest landscapes. It builds on existing research infrastructure, including access to greenhouse gas towers and ongoing research on carbon dynamics, hydrology and subsidence. It also complements the work already being undertaken by our Independent Peat Expert Working Group.

Our forestry plantation concessions are significantly on peatland ecosystem and we have obligation to manage this landscape responsibly. Evidence shows responsible management of peatland landscapes are crucial in preventing unmitigated emissions particularly from lack of proper water management, burning and continued encroachment of natural forests. Our experience also demonstrates that the key is in maintaining a balance between production, protection and social needs on the landscape.

We have been investing heavily in science to guide our peatland management practices for both plantations and conservation/restoration areas. And we will continue to advance tropical peatland science as a key target under APRIL2030.

We acknowledge that there are greenhouse gas emissions from peatland operations, so in recent years we have been generating primary data using the latest science to measure our emissions. This is helping to determine what levers we can pull to reduce our emissions. Emerging data shows that emissions from well-managed plantation operations are much less than what current published data suggests, and that proactive water management and plantation cycling allow us to further reduce the emissions by between 30% and 40%. This work continues.

Meanwhile at a landscape level, we know that responsible peatland management is key to emissions mitigation. This means proactive fire prevention and best-in-class water management. These have resulted in our peatland landscape being one of the better, if not the best managed in the region. We also commit to mitigating any emissions through our conservation and restoration projects, starting with our Restorasi Ekosistem Riau project which restores more than 150,000 hectares of peatland forest on Riau’s Kampar Peninsula.