Sappi Southern Africa
Corporate Citizenship Report

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Aligning
with the SDGs

Established by the United Nations, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the blueprint for corporate citizenship and set out a way to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. They address the global challenges we face, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice. The 17 Goals are all interconnected, and in order to leave no one behind, it is important that we achieve them all by 2030.

Sappi has identified nine priority SDGs. In 2020, we will be formulating our 2025 strategy and strategic goals which will underpin our actions and strategies to progress our priority SDGs.


  • South Africa’s progress in terms of this goal1

    The educational system continues to suffer from inequities in the quality of education, low enrolment rates in upper secondary and tertiary schooling, and limited access to training.

  • Sappi's priority SDGs

    COUNTRY
    PRIORITY GOAL2

  • Sappi's actions to progress the SDGs

    We support the entire education value chain, all the way through from early childhood development (ECD) to tertiary education. Including our Ulwazi and Skills Centres. We spent approximately ZAR19.6 million on external education and training initiatives in FY2019.


  • South Africa’s progress in terms of this goal1

    The share of the population with safely managed drinking water rose from 60% in 1996 to 75% in 2016. However, 84% of urban dwellers had access compared to only 60% of rural residents.

  • Sappi's priority SDGs

  • Sappi's actions to progress the SDGs

    • We return approximately 95% of the water we extract to the environment.
    • We have a 2020 specific process water usage (m3/adt) to achieve a 10% reduction in total specific process water usage (m3/adt) from 2014 (the base year). In 2019, compared to the base year, we achieved a reduction of 23.08%.
    • We are planning a water stewardship project in the uMKhomazi catchment area with WWF South Africa.

  • South Africa’s progress in terms of this goal1

    About 95.27% of the population had access to electricity in 2017, up from 58% in 1996. Access is somewhat lower in rural areas, where 80% of the population had electricity. South Africa remains heavily dependent on coal for energy.

  • Sappi's priority SDGs

  • Sappi's actions to progress the SDGs

    • We are 43.74% energy self-sufficient, mainly through our use of own black liquor which is a biofuel.
    • Project Vulindlela, our expansion project at Saiccor Mill, will increase energy efficiency by 10% and the use of renewable energy by 20%. (See Balancing the 3Ps at Saiccor Mill for further details.)
    • Our 2020 target aims to reduce specific purchased fossil energy (GJ/adt) by 10% from 2014 as a base year. In 2019, compared with the base, we achieved a reduction of 9.81%.

  • South Africa’s progress in terms of this goal1

    South Africa faces prolonged slow growth and high levels of unemployment (particularly among women and youth). The burden of unemployment is highest among the black and coloured population.

  • Sappi's priority SDGs

    COUNTRY
    PRIORITY GOAL

  • Sappi's actions to progress the SDGs

    • In South Africa, we employ 5,340 people. Our forestry contractors employ approximately 9,250 people, many in rural areas where economic activity is limited. We facilitate social and economic wellbeing by using labour drawn from local communities, and the services of small and medium enterprises situated in the areas around our plantations and production facilities.
    • In November 2019, we announced our intention to make investments totalling up to ZAR14 billion over the next six years in our South African operations.
    • Our 2020 goal is for our combined employee (own) and contractor Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) to be better than the best ever achieved on a continuous 12-month basis and for the Lost Time Injury Severity Rate (LTISR) to be below 25. Disappointingly, we did not achieve this due to four tragic fatalities in 2019.
    • In 2020, we will be launching 2025 gender parity targets.

  • South Africa’s progress in terms of this goal1

    The share of municipal waste that is recycled rose from 1.3% in 2015 to 7.5% in 2017. Food waste generation (the edible portion) equals approximately 30% of local production.

  • Sappi's priority SDGs

  • Sappi's actions to progress the SDGs

    • We have rolled out a Supplier Code of Conduct which calls on our suppliers to commit to ethical behaviour, human rights, health and safety, diversity and equal opportunity and environmental responsibility.
    • 81.10% of woodfibre supplied to our mills is certified.
    • 60.3% of the waste we generate in SSA is beneficiated.

  • South Africa’s progress in terms of this goal1

    The average temperature has increased in South Africa in each of the last eight decades, and in 2017 it was predicted that the average temperature would increase twice as fast as temperatures in the rest of the world. The climatic zones across the country are shifting, ecosystems and landscapes are being degraded, and our terrestrial and marine systems are overstressed. Recurring heatwaves and droughts are evidences of the daunting challenges of climate change.

  • Sappi's priority SDGs

    COUNTRY
    PRIORITY GOAL

  • Sappi's actions to progress the SDGs

    • Through photosynthesis, a part of the carbon cycle, trees and other plants use water and sunlight to convert CO2 into carbohydrates to provide energy and the building blocks for growth. The process releases oxygen as a by-product. The carbon removed from the atmosphere is effectively stored in plant material and wood. In other words, trees act as carbon sinks. In Sappi’s plantations, harvesting is balanced with re-planting, thereby perpetuating the carbon cycle. The plantations annually lock up 3.5 million CO2 tons from the atmosphere into timber. This is transformed into products that store carbon, thereby effectively removing more than 1.3 million CO2 tons from the atmosphere annually.
    • We have a 2020 target in place to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGe) (CO2 eq/adt) by 10% from a 2014 base. In 2019, we achieved a reduction of 11.37% against the base.

  • South Africa’s progress in terms of this goal1

    Although there are policies and laws to promote the sustainable use of land resources, a substantial share of land is degraded, and forest cover appears to be declining. South Africa’s 2018 report to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification shows that 10.71% of the country’s land is degraded.

  • Sappi's priority SDGs

  • Sappi's actions to progress the SDGs

    • 100% of land owned by Sappi Forests is Forest Stewardship CouncilTM (FSCTM) certified. This is important, because forest certification is a key tool for promoting sustainable consumption and production, and for combatting deforestation and illegal logging by providing proof of legality and responsible practices.
    • Sappi worked extensively with other stakeholders to develop the South African Forest Assurance Scheme (SAFAS) for growers which has been fully endorsed by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest CertificationTM (PEFCTM).
    • 81.10% of fibre supplied to our mills is certified.
    • We have six declared nature reserves on our land covering an area of 6,486 hectares.
    • Through conservation planning, we have identified 166 important conservation areas (ICAs) on our land.
    • We were involved in the development of Wet-Health, one of the first comprehensive wetland health assessment tools to be developed for assessing South African wetlands. The toolkit enables us to:
      • Evaluate wetland condition
      • Identify causes of wetland degradation
      • Prioritise rehabilitation initiatives
      • Measure the effectiveness of rehabilitation efforts
      • Evaluate possible impacts of land-use changes on wetland functioning.

  • South Africa’s progress in terms of this goal1

    South Africa supports the view that financial flows for the implementation of the SDGs must be underpinned by an expanded and strengthened global partnership for development.

  • Sappi's priority SDGs

    COUNTRY
    PRIORITY GOAL

  • Sappi's actions to progress the SDGs

    SSA partners with industry and business bodies to provide input into issues and regulations that affect and are relevant to our businesses and industries. We also support and partner with industry initiatives aimed at promoting forest health. We signed the Paris Pledge for Action in 2015 and one of our longest standing relationships is with the United Nations Global Compact, to which we have been a signatory since 2008.


1 As set out in the Voluntary National Review, July 2019, https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/23402RSA_Voluntary_National_Review_Report__9_July_2019.pdf.
2 Country priority goals are those identified by South Africa as most important at a national level