In April 2020, PT Dharma Satya Nusantara Tbk. (“DSNG”) signed a USD 30.0 million 10-year loan facility from Stichting andgreen.fund (“&Green”), a globally-focused impact investment fund financing sustainable commodity production to protect tropical forests.
DSNG, an Indonesian business group focusing on wood and palm oil sectors, was already known to be committed to the production of certified sustainable palm oil. It had been, for example,
a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (“RSPO”)2 since 2012. It has also consistently implemented Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) as an integral component of its corporate strategy policy in both its palm oil and wood product business segments.
One indication of the company’s commitment was the rise of its ranking in the 2020 SPOTT or Sustainability Policy Transparency Toolkit. DSNG went from 46th in 2019 to 16th in 2020, a big jump that made it the highest ranked Indonesian-headquartered company among the 100 palm oil companies assessed worldwide.3 SPOTT, an initiative developed by the Zoological Society of London assesses the transparency of 100 palm oil companies worldwide regarding their ESG policies.