Our overarching aim is to partner proactively with our stakeholders as we unlock the power of trees and their limitless potential to accelerate the solutions a thriving world requires.
Our stakeholder engagement is focused on building trust and delivering impact on what our stakeholders value the most. We proactively collaborate with stakeholders to better inform our decision-making amid today’s dynamic external landscape. We particularly focus on the impact of our activities on people and the planet, in addition to enterprise value and in line with double materiality.
Our approach comprises informal and formal channels of mutual dialogue, ranging from regular employee engagement and customer surveys to community forums and Greenlight Movement community surveys in South Africa. Our stakeholder engagement is aligned to the governance framework of King IV namely performance and value creation, adequate and effective controls and trust, as well as reputation, legitimacy and ethics.
A thriving world is not possible without an ethical culture underpinning our everyday activities. Accordingly, we train our employees, customers and suppliers on our Code of Ethics and promote awareness of the Sappi hotlines in each region which allows all stakeholders to report breaches of the code in full confidentiality.
We regularly review our activities in terms of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention and the convention’s 2021 Anti-Bribery Recommendation, particularly section VII of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises dealing with Combatting Bribery, Bribe Solicitation and Extortion. No issues have been raised in Sappi with regards to compliance with the convention and guidelines either externally or internally. In FY2025, we also assessed the countries in which we operate according to the Corruption Perception Index 2024 which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption. The index is calculated using 13 different data sources from 12 different institutions that capture perceptions of corruption within the past two years.
Our stakeholder engagement is also guided by our work towards realisation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), in particular our priority SDGs. We have a longstanding membership of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), which we joined in 2008, and which is now a global movement with over 20,000 participating companies and over 3,800 non-business participants in over 160 countries.
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Employees
As we position Sappi to be future-fit, our task is to meet the changing needs of every Sappi employee within a diverse, inclusive, safe workplace where they can develop their full personal and career potential. We recognise that our wellbeing and financial prosperity are inextricably linked to our employees and the communities in which we operate.
Unions
A workplace where people feel they have been heard and in which they can make a meaningful contribution enhances trust, helps to drive our safety-first culture and enhances overall efficiency, productivity and stability. Our constructive relationships with our employees and their representatives are based on mutual respect and understanding.
Customers
The more closely we engage and collaborate with our customers, the more likely we are to understand and respond to their evolving needs by offering relevant solutions in the form of sustainable and practical products and services. This partnership approach builds the loyalty and long-term relationships that enable us to thrive.
Communities and neighbours
Recognising that we are part of the communities beyond our fence lines and that their prosperity and wellbeing are linked to our own, we strive to make a purpose-driven, meaningful contribution towards the wellbeing and development of our neighbouring communities. We work to create positive social impact by jointly identifying and leveraging opportunities, thereby demonstrating our commitment to transparency and collaboration.
Community engagement meetings take various formats in our mills in the regions where they are situated. These range from broad liaison forums for business, local government and communities to legally mandated environmental forums that form part of the licensing conditions of mills. In South Africa, there are local farmer and community forums related to our forestry communities.
Industry bodies and NGOs
We partner with industry and business bodies to provide input on issues and regulations that affect, and are relevant to our businesses and industries. We also support and partner with industry initiatives aimed at promoting the use of our products and the overall sustainability of our industry.
An important element of our strategy for achieving our business objectives is to enhance and support collaboration across the forest-based sector to enhance responsible forestry and promote forest certification. Our aim is to be present in multi-stakeholder conversations, support effective advocacy with policymakers and government leaders, and support supply chain initiatives. Close engagement is maintained through the industry organisations CEPI (Confederation of European Paper Industries) AF&PA (American Forest and Paper Association), PAMSA (Paper Manufacturers Association of South Africa) and FSA (Forestry South Africa).
Investors
Our aim is to provide investors (shareholders and bondholders) and analysts with transparent, timely, relevant communication that provides them with an understanding of our industry and our performance, as well as our plans to achieve our growth ambitions, thereby facilitating informed decisions.
Government and regulatory bodies
Dialogue with members of governments and regulatory authorities is an opportunity for all stakeholders involved to better understand all aspects of the issues at hand. We work to ensure that our position on a broad range of priority issues is understood by politicians, decision-makers, opinion formers and other role-players in the regions where we operate. This approach supports a policy and legislative environment that helps us achieve our business objectives, as well as enhance our reputation and brand. In addition to direct contact, we also work through a variety of industry groups and associations as described below.
Suppliers
Our suppliers are a core aspect of our business. We aim to establish mutually respectful, value-based relationships with them and encourage them to share our approach to investing in and searching for innovative ways to leave the planet better than we found it and making a purpose-driven and meaningful contribution towards the wellbeing and development of employees and our communities.
Media
We maintain an open relationship with the media.
We continue to update the media on our belief that it is our responsibility to use the full potential of each tree we harvest. We engage with civil society organisations on issues of mutual interest and belong to key organisations relevant to our operations. We engage with various civil society groups on our societal and development impact.
Research institutes and academia
Collaborating and engaging with research institutes and academia enables Sappi to contribute to broader scientific advancement, the industry's ability to drive future-oriented net positive sustainable outcomes, and Sappi's own innovative process as it continues exploring long-term and emerging opportunities.
| Name of organisation | Focus | |
|---|---|---|
| African Business Leaders Coalition | In the build-up to COP27 in Egypt, the UNGC launched the African Business Leaders Coalition, to advance Africa's sustainable growth, prosperity and development by mobilising a coalition of Africa's business leaders to engage on the continent's most pressing issues as an organised, innovative, forward-looking principles based and unified voice. Our group CEO joined 56 other business leaders from African companies and signed The Africa Business Leaders' Climate statement, ensuring that African business had a collective voice to contribute to a positive outcome. | |
| Business for Nature #MakeitMandatory |
We signed up to this campaign, which calls on all large businesses and financial institutions to assess and disclose their impacts and dependencies on biodiversity. | |
| Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) |
BLSA promotes engagement between South Africa's business leaders and key players in South African society, including government, civil society and labour, to exchange ideas in our national interest and to create effective dialogue. | |
| EcoVadis | We assess the sustainability performance of our suppliers through proactive ratings and evaluations using EcoVadis methodology – under the EcoVadis banner, we have been submitting our own sustainability performance to our customers for many years now. In FY2025, Sappi again achieved highest platinum rating in Europe and North America (seventh consecutive year for both operating regions) and a gold rating in Southern Africa. | |
| Ethics Institute of SA | As we are headquartered and listed in South Africa, we belong to this institute. | |
| Forest Stewardship Council™ (FSC™) |
Both SNA and SSA belong to this international, non-governmental organisation dedicated to promoting responsible management of the world's forests. | |
| National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) |
Sappi is an active participant in the Nedlac Companies Amendment Bill Task Team where representatives of labour, government and business meet to discuss and seek consensus on the major amendments proposed to the current South African Companies Act and governance codes as well as changes related to social and ethics board committees. | |
| Paris Pledge for Action | We signed this pledge in 2015 to add our voice to global calls to limit global temperature rise to well below 2°C – and pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C. | |
| Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) |
Sappi is an International Stakeholder Member of PEFC, an independent, global, non-profit, non-governmental organisation, which promotes sustainably managed forests through independent third-party certification. | |
| Cascale (formerly Sustainable Apparel Coalition) | A global, non-profit alliance of over 300 leading consumer goods brands, retailers, manufacturers, sourcing agents, service providers, trade associations, NGOs and academic institutions. Our members represent every link of the global value chain for apparel, footwear, and textiles; home furnishings; sporting and outdoor goods; bags and luggage. We use their sustainability measurement suit of tools, the Higg Index, to evaluate materials, products, facilities, and processes based on environmental performance, social labour practices, and product design choices). | |
| Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry | An international NGO of about 14,000 member engineers, scientists, managers, academics and others involved in the areas of pulp and paper. | |
| The Textile Exchange (TE) and TE man-made cellulosic fibre roundtable and climate sub-committee | The TE launched their Climate+ Strategy in 2019, with a goal to reduce GHG emissions in the textile value chain by 45% by 2030, while addressing other climate-related impact areas, like water, biodiversity and soil health. Sappi was an advisory partner in the development of the TE's biodiversity benchmarking module and participated in the pilot launch of the tool. We also participate in the cellulosic roundtable and climate sub-committee. | |
| World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) | The organisation has three imperatives; climate, nature and equity. The Forest Solutions Group (FSG) is a sector-specific working group under the WBCSD umbrella. Sappi is an active participant in the FSG, has contributed to the development of the net-zero and nature-positive roadmaps for the forest sector and is one of the co-leads for the equity roadmap which is in progress. |
| Name of organisation | Focus | |
|---|---|---|
| Biobased Industries Consortium | Covers the entire biobased ecosystem and brings together players from different industrial sectors and disciplines. One of the consortium's aims is to improve access to finance and the investment climate in Europe. | |
| CELAB (Circular Economy for Labels) coalition | Aims to create a sustainable circular economy for self-adhesive labels throughout the entire supply chain. The initiative aims to develop a sustainable and circular business model for more than 75% of the matrices and release liners used in Europe by 2025. | |
| Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) |
The European association representing the pulp and paper industry. | |
| 4evergreen Alliance | A cross-industry alliance dedicated to perfecting the circularity of fibre-based packaging. | |
| Intergraf | A trade association promoting and protecting the interests of the graphic industry at European level. | |
| The Alliance of Energy Intensive Industries | Represents a broad grouping of industries who participate in policy discussions such as the EU Green Deal. | |
| The Forests Dialogue | Provides international leaders in the forest sector with an ongoing, multi-stakeholder dialogue (MSD) platform and process focused on developing mutual trust, a shared understanding, and collaborative solutions to challenges in achieving sustainable forest management and forest conservation around the world. |
Other memberships include BioChem Europe, Eurograph, European Joint Undertaking on Biobased Industries, Print Power.
| Name of organisation | Focus | |
|---|---|---|
| Alliance for Pulp and Paper Technology Innovation | APPTI is an industry-led consortium that promotes development of advanced manufacturing technologies for the pulp and paper industry. | |
| American Forests and Paper Association (AF&PA) | The national trade association of the paper and wood products industry. | |
| Federal Forest Resource Coalition | Comprises companies and regional trade associations whose members harvest and manufacture wood products, paper and renewable energy from federal timber resources. | |
| Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI®) Implementation Committees (Maine, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan) | Committees work with local, forestry, and professional associations, universities, government agencies, landowner groups, conservation groups and many others to promote SFI® standards to broaden the practice of responsible forestry and achieve on-the-ground progress. | |
| Maine Forest Products Council | The Maine Forest Products Council has been the voice of Maine's forest economy since 1961, uniting landowners, loggers, truckers, mills, foresters, and allied professionals to keep the Maine woods a viable, sustainable resource. Through convening, education, and strong representation at the Maine Legislature and in Washington DC, MFPC advances policies and collaboration that support responsible forestry and the communities it sustains. | |
| Minnesota Forest Resources Council | Develops policy recommendations and encourages the adoption of sustainable forest management policies and practices. Council members represent a wide range of forest resource interests and hold public meetings every second month to discuss key issues. | |
| University of Maine Pulp and Paper Foundation | Active internship programme and industry advocacy. | |
| University of Minnesota Sustainable Forests Education Cooperative | A forestry education cooperative offering continuing education opportunities for natural resource professionals. |
Other memberships include American BioFuels Association, American Forest Foundation, Biorenewable Deployment Consortium, Forest Products Working Group, Forest Resources Association, Forest Stewardship Council™ (FSC™), FRA Lakes States Policy Committee, Great Lakes Timber Professionals Association, Maine Forest Products Council, Maine Cooperative Forest Research Unit, Maine Tree Foundation, Maine SFI® Implementation Committee (ME SIC), Maine Tree Foundation, ME American Tree Farm System (ATFS) Chapter, Maine Woodland Owners, Michigan Forest Products Council, Minnesota Forest Industries, Minnesota Timber Producers Association, MN SFI® Implementation Committee (MN SIC), MN ATFS, New Hampshire SFI® Implementation Committee (NH SIC), NH Timberland Owners Association, Paper and Packing Board, Paperboard Packaging Council , Pulp and Paper Products Council, Quebec SFI® Implementation Committee (QC SIC), Sustainable Packaging Coalition, University of Maine Paper Surface Science Consortia, VT SIC, Federal Forest Resources Coalition (FFRC), Federal Timber Purchasers Committee (FTPC), Wood Fiber Employee Joint Legislative Council, Great Lakes Timber Professionals, Minnesota Logger Education Program (MLEP), MI SFI® Implementation Committee (MI SIC), MI ATFS, WI SFI® Implementation Committee (WI SIC), FSC™-US Membership.
| Name of organisation | Focus | |
|---|---|---|
| Business for South Africa (B4SA) | B4SA is an alliance of business leaders working with the SA government and other social partners focused on mobilising business resources and capacity to work alongside and in support of government to address bottlenecks impacting the country's socioeconomic development. | |
| Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) | BUSA structures its work through two policy committees – a Social Policy Committee and an Economic and Trade Policy Committee. All deliberation on policy is considered through the policy committees. Sappi contributes through various committees influencing government policymaking. | |
| Forestry South Africa | Forestry South Africa represents 13 corporate forestry companies, approximately 1,100 commercial timber farmers and some 20,000 small-scale growers. Collectively, these growers own or control no less than 93% of the country's total plantation area of 1.2 million hectares. | |
| National Business Initiative (NBI) | An independent, business movement of nearly 100 South African and multinational companies committed to the vision of a thriving society and working with members to build their capacity for change and to create investment opportunities for them. | |
| Paper Manufacturers Association of South Africa (PAMSA) | Responsible for the pre-competitive legislative, education, environment, research and recycling interests of the pulp, paper, board and tissue sector in South Africa. | |
| South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) | Tasked with research and dissemination of information on biodiversity, and legally mandated to contribute to the management of SA's biodiversity resources. | |
| WWF-SA | Works with business to generate collective action, stimulate innovation and mobilise resources for shared value and systems change (See here for details of our Water Stewardship partnership with WWF-SA). |
Other memberships include Birdlife SA, Fibre Circle, Fibre Processing and Manufacturing Skills Education and Training Authority, FSC™, Manufacturing Circle, Packaging SA, Recycle Paper ZA, South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry and local chambers of commerce and industry.
Sappi Forests' memberships are focused on mitigating pests and disease and promoting sustainability of our plantations: