Strengthening Impact: APRIL Group publishes 2025 Sustainability report
- 2025 marked the exact midpoint of the APRIL2030 agenda and a decade since the launch of the Sustainable Forest Management Policy (SFMP) 2.0.
- Advanced its climate and operational goals through higher plantation productivity, expanded renewable energy capacity and a continued decline in land-use emissions.
- Strengthened its long-term nature agenda through a strategic five-year collaboration with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), launched its Thriving Nature strategy, and the adoption of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) framework.
- The report also highlights continued works in conservation and community development, while outlining priority areas for accelerated action to support sustainable growth.
APRIL Group has published its 2025 Sustainability Report, marking a milestone year for the company as it reaches the midpoint of its APRIL2030 commitments and a decade of implementation of its Sustainable Forest Management Policy (SFMP) 2.0.
Under the theme, ‘Strengthening impact’, the 2025 report reflects a year of recalibration — refining implementation pathways to ensure long-term commitments translate into measurable, science-based results for climate, nature and communities.
Key 2025 achievements include:
- Mean Annual Increment (MAI) — a measure of the productivity of the land we manage — increased by 13.8% against the 2019 baseline, standing at 23.1 tonnes per hectare per year in our plantations in Sumatra.
- Installed solar capacity at our Pangkalan Kerinci operations increased to 39.4 megawatt-peak (MWp). Our original 2030 target of 25MW was reached last year and we are approaching the revised target of 50MW by the end of the decade.
- Net emissions from land use continued to decline, from 4.8 MtCO2e in 2019 to 3.0 MtCO2e in 2025.
- We allocated US$14.8 million was directed to conservation initiatives —bringing total cumulative investments since 2020 to US$75 million.
- Community development programmes supported 445 households across 77 villages to help mitigate extreme poverty. In addition, targeted interventions across 114 villages contributed to reducing infant stunting rates under 14% in Riau Province.
Last year also marked important strategic developments for the company’s long-term biodiversity and nature agenda. This includes a five-year collaboration with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), announced at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi in October 2025, to advance conservation science and evidence-based solutions to improving biodiversity outcomes in Indonesia and around the world.
At the same IUCN Congress, APRIL launched our Thriving Nature strategy, a science-based framework to guide long-term investment in biodiversity conservation and landscape level outcomes, prioritising verifiable, measurable impact.
In late 2025, APRIL formally adopted the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) framework. This strengthens the company’s methodology for identifying and reporting nature-related dependencies, risks and opportunities, with plans to launch a dedicated TNFD-aligned report in the near term.
While recognising steady progress, the report maintains a transparent view of operational realities. Continued business growth has increased total energy demand and emissions intensity, making certain internal APRIL2030 targets more complex to achieve.
To address these gaps, APRIL has established a Mill Climate Positive and Sustainable Growth Working Group. This specialised team is tasked with driving efficiencies and absolute reductions across four critical areas: energy and emissions footprint, chemical recovery optimization, waste to landfill reduction and water efficiency.
The report also highlights ongoing efforts to strengthen workplace safety as a key priority across the supply chain, moving beyond a compliance-led approach to one where safety is deeply embedded as a core organisational value.
Progress also continues toward our diversity goal of women making up 20% of the workforce, with a focus on building a sustainable talent pipeline at the leadership level. Currently, women represent 18.9% of the overall workforce and 12.5% of leadership roles at our Sumatra operations.
APRIL’s ambitious sustainability goals must remain agile amid evolving market dynamics and regional context. Strengthening impact will require continued innovation, robust stakeholder engagement, and resolute operational focus in the years ahead. We welcome continued dialogues with our partners as we work to deliver on these shared milestones.
Read the full 2025 Sustainability Report here.
Note: TÜV SÜD Singapore has provided limited independent assurance on specific APRIL2030 sustainability reporting indicators contained within the report.
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