A plantation project in Papua has destroyed thousands of hectares of rainforest and decimated the traditional food sources of indigenous peoples, an investigation by The Gecko Project found. Indonesian government support for biomass project raises questions over the consistency of its climate change policies.

 A new investigative report, Pulping Borneo, finds that the Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) Group, the world’s largest viscose producer and major paper products company, continues to rely on deforestation in its supply chain despite a high-profile commitment to “No-Deforestation”. The report, co-published by five organizations, also reveals a chain of offshore shell companies pointing to RGE Group control behind a new mega-scale pulp mill in North Kalimantan, putting some of the world’s largest remaining rainforests at risk. 

Investigation reveals giant North America pulp and forestry company's links to deforestation and social conflicts through ownership structure. A new report released today by the Environmental Paper Network, together with Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network and Woods & Wayside International reveals in new detail the corporate ownership of Paper Excellence, which is about to become the largest pulp and forestry company in Canada. The investigation exposes a complex ownership structure with links leading to the notorious Sinar Mas Group, an Indonesia-based private corporation linked to extensive deforestation and social conflict.

To contrast deforestation, the European Union is developing a new draft of regulation to assure the import of deforestation-free products. Europe consumes around 10% of all commodities that are driving deforestation. Recently, more than 50 scientists have warned MEPs that a high-level move to water down EU legislation on deforestation could undermine Europe’s net zero emissions plans.

Moorim Paper, Korea's second-largest pulp and paper manufacturer, claims on its website that it "thinks of the environment" by not using environmental sources. But according to a report by environmental activists in Korea and Indonesia that was released March 15, the company based in Seoul's Gangnam District has been lying. Using its subsidiary firm PT Plasma Nutfah Marind Papua (PT PNMP) in Indonesia, Moorim has been clearing more than 6,000 hectares of pristine forests in the remote province of Papua between 2015 and 2021 to produce wood chips for papermaking without having performed a proper environmental impact analysis prior to clearing the land.