Result: Santander stops financing forest destroyer APRIL

Posted by Richardg — 26 February 2015 at 11:08am - Comments
We did it!
All rights reserved. Credit: Greenpeace

Great news: Santander just pledged to stop financing the paper company APRIL. Santander has agreed that APRIL will get no more money until it stops destroying the Indonesian rainforest.

After receiving thousands of queries and complaints, the bank today announced

'Banco Santander has decided to not renew the current funding to APRIL and will not be extending further funding at this stage. Any future loans will be conditional on APRIL implementing new sustainability measures which address its involvement with deforestation.'

This is a fantastic outcome. In less than three weeks, we forced one of the biggest banks in Europe to end its relationship with one of the biggest forest destroyers in Indonesia. Over 165,000 of us demanded action from Santander - and it cost APRIL tens of millions.

The response from Santander’s customers to this campaign has been phenomenal. To its credit, Santander has listened and responded. But this would never have happened if Santander had had a robust policy to stop companies getting loans for destroying forests.

Santander has now joined the growing list of businesses that have taken a stand against APRIL’s rainforest destruction. Many big paper buyers have already cancelled contracts with APRIL for exactly this reason.

Today's announcement sends a clear message to APRIL that its deforestation is unacceptable. It puts enormous pressure on other international banks with financial links to APRIL, including Credit Suisse and ABN Amro, to make similar commitments.

APRIL now has a very clear choice. It can continue clearing rainforest and risk losing even more customers. Or it can end its deforestation and start protecting rainforests and peatlands. The ball, as they say, is firmly in its court.

Bringing companies like Santander and APRIL to account is only possible because of people like you who give both time and money. Greenpeace doesn't accept donations from any businesses or governments, so we are entirely reliant on the generosity of individuals. If you'd like to ensure work to protect the forests continues in to the future, please donate today.

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