ANJ REFRESHES COMMITMENT TO REDUCING THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT

06 Jun 2022

 

Jakarta, 6 Juni 2022 – In recent years, global climate change has become increasingly apparent. Where the changing pattern of rain can cause flooding in one place but drought in another.

As an agribusiness company, PT Austindo Nusantara Jaya Tbk (ANJ) applies sustainable palm oil practices and strives to protect the environment. Environmental protection, conservation, and best agricultural practices are indispensable to avoid and mitigate negative impacts, as well as to contribute to positive impacts on the planet.

ANJ has integrated its business strategy with ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance). The implementation of the ESG concept has been functioning for a long time at ANJ, in line with the company's vision, mission, and values ​​based on a balance between the aspects of the triple bottom line. In the environmental field, ANJ has implemented several biodiversity and environmental protection programs, as well as several initiatives to reduce the impact of climate change across plantations.

 

To mitigate the impact of climate change, ANJ has been reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) by building a biogas project since 2012. The reduction in GHG per year is 50,000 – 60,000 tons CO2 equivalent and results in a net sell of electricity from PLTBg of 9.4 million kWh per year. Furthermore, in 2015, ANJ carried out a composting program by utilizing solid waste in the form of empty fruit bunch to be processed into organic fertilizer.

Director of Engineering, Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) and Security of ANJ Group, Mohammad Fitriyansyah, said that emission reduction and energy efficiency policies, which are components of ANJ's Sustainability Policy and Environmental Policy, are focused on efforts to reduce the use of inorganic fertilizers and switching to organic fertilizers, increasing the use of renewable energy, reducing its reliance on fossil fuels, and capturing methane gas from POME for conversion into biogas. Electrostatic precipitators (ESP) in some factories are also installed to control air pollution by reducing particulates released into the air.

In addition, Fitriyansyah added that fertilizers contribute significantly to emissions. ANJ reduces the use of inorganic fertilizers through its ongoing fertigation and composting initiatives. “We will continue to reduce this consumption by expanding our composting program to all of our plantations and increasing our fertigation initiatives over the next five years. The application of fertigation, a method of using an irrigation system to deliver the right amount of fertilizer to plants, is much more efficient and can reduce the overall amount of fertilizer used. Fertigation is also safer for the environment because excessive application of inorganic fertilizers can contaminate soil and runoff into waterways leading to eutrophication.” he said.

Head of EHS ANJ Group, Indra Kurniawan, added that to achieve the target of mitigating the impacts of climate change, ANJ implemented a strategy based on five main aspects. First, ANJ is committed to reducing operational emissions, excluding emissions from land-use change. This is done by reducing the use of inorganic fertilizers and switching to organic fertilizers, increasing the renewable energy mix, one of which is by reducing fossil fuel use. ANJ implemented a methane capture initiative to reduce methane emissions from palm oil mill effluent (POME).

Second, ANJ implements a Nature-based Solution, which consists of harnessing the potential of nature to reduce GHG emissions, adapt to climate change, and meet sustainable development goals. Third, the majority of oil palm smallholders meet high sustainability standards. ANJ provides support and capacity-building programs to help them meet RSPO and ISPO requirements and encourage them to obtain certification.

“The fourth aspect refers to adaptation and mitigation which is further detailed in the next section on the impacts of climate change. Lastly, ANJ complies with and actively participates in governance and disclosure initiatives related to climate change,” he said.

As part of its Sustainability Policy and Environmental Policy, ANJ is also implementing the ANJ 3R Program (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) which is currently functioning in four operating areas, namely PT Austindo Nusantara Jaya Agri Siais (ANJAS), PT Austindo Nusantara Jaya Agri (ANJA), PT Sahabat Mewah dan Makmur (SMM), and PT Kayung Agro Lestari (KAL) to reduce the amount of waste from company activities. These initiatives include reducing the use of plastic such as banning plastic use in company cooperatives, avoiding plastic bottled drinking water, using tumblers, encouraging the use of environmentally friendly packaging, and awareness-raising activities targeted at employees, suppliers, and contractors.

ANJ's Commitment to Protect the Forest and its Flora and Fauna

In implementing sustainable palm oil practices, ANJ is committed to aligning plantation development with environmental sustainability, especially in forest areas that have high carbon stock (HCS) and high conservation value (HCV).

ANJ's step in protecting the forest and its flora and fauna is to involve the community in protecting it. Until 2021, the total area of HCV forest which ANJ has set aside for the protection of flora, fauna, and their habitats is 60,985.27 ha. The conservation area is managed collaboratively with the local government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the surrounding community. In addition, ANJ has also formed a national conservation team, which is stationed in each of ANJ's operational areas to manage conservation areas and identify flora and fauna.

In 2019, ANJ introduced a program for observing wild flora and fauna within ANJ's concessions, through a Citizen Science approach called PENDAKI or Peduli Keanekaragaman Hayati (Care for Biodiversity) to document and monitor biodiversity in all areas of the company.

The PENDAKI program can also be used as an indicator of awareness of the importance of biodiversity value by employees and the surrounding community. By 2021, more than 50,000 reports of observations of wild flora and fauna have been collected from all Citizen Science who are ANJ employees, ANJ guests, and the surrounding community.

In 2021, ANJ launched the PENDAKI website (https://pendaki.anj-group.co.id/) which is accessible to the public and publishes a wildlife encyclopedia at SMM. Hopefully, this initiative will increase the awareness of the general public, company partners, and the surrounding community on the protection and monitoring of biodiversity.

For its efforts in integrating business strategy with ESG aspects, ANJ received two awards at the 2021 “Corporate Emissions Award” held by one of the media in Indonesia, Investor Magazine and Bumi Global Karbon at the end of last April. In the group of non-banking issuers, ANJ received the Green Elite predicate for reducing corporate emissions and the Platinum Plus predicate for transparency in emission calculations.

In addition, another ANJ achievement in the environmental field is that at the end of 2021, two of ANJ's subsidiaries, SMM and ANJA, won PROPER Emas from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK). Prior to ANJ, no palm oil company had ever received a PROPER Emas, an award given to a company that has carried out environmental management beyond what is required (beyond compliance).

 

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