Sustainability claims face scrutiny

An investigation published on April 22 traced rainforest clearing in Indonesian orangutan habitat to the supply chain of a company selling “carbon-neutral” packaging. (france24.com) AFP and The Gecko Project said wood from plantations in Central Kalimantan was processed at Phoenix Resources International, an Indonesian mill that sent pulp to Asia Symbol in China. Asia Symbol supplied packaging used by Haleon, the consumer health company behind Panadol and Sensodyne. (france24.com) The reporting said plantations feeding that mill cleared nearly 30,000 hectares of forest between 2016 and 2024, including habitat for critically endangered Bornean orangutans. Haleon said it was cutting ties with Asia Symbol after the findings. (afp.com) Asia Symbol has a no-deforestation policy, and its parent group, Royal Golden Eagle, pledged a deforestation-free supply chain in 2015. The same AFP report said Royal Golden Eagle is trying to regain Forest Stewardship Council certification for responsibly sourced products. (france24.com) The case landed as Indonesian policy researchers argued the country’s climate plans are also constrained by local budgets, not just corporate supply chains. In a Devpolicy article published April 23, Rifky Pratama Wicaksono and Muhammad Rafi Bakri said 236 local governments cut environmental spending in 2025 from a year earlier. (devpolicy.org) The authors said those cuts widened an estimated US$145 billion climate finance gap through 2030 and that district spending showed “almost no relationship” to environmental quality. They argued Jakarta’s current grants and transfer formulas reward good behavior but do not require local governments to fund environmental protection. (devpolicy.org) Indonesia has been trying to mobilize more private money alongside public spending. In July 2025, the Ministry of Finance, Bank Indonesia and the Financial Services Authority said they were building a Sustainable Finance Committee after climate-related spending from 2018 to 2023 covered only 16.4% of what Indonesia needs for its climate targets. (climatepolicyinitiative.org) That leaves sustainability claims exposed on two fronts: whether products marketed as low-carbon are tied to forest loss, and whether government budgets match national climate promises. The next tests are likely to come from buyers, lenders and certification bodies that already ask companies and governments to show the numbers behind the label. (france24.com) (devpolicy.org) (climatepolicyinitiative.org)