BG+: Does APP expect a commercial upside from this commitment? Are you now in a position to go to clients who boycotted the company and ask them to come back?

Greenbury: I don't see there being a commercial upside. We are doing this because this is the right thing to do. We are doing this because we need to, there are no other options.

BG+: I'm not suggesting it would be a negative thing to try and get commercial benefits. Is there not a case that companies should be rewarded for doing the right thing? You must now be in a position where you are competing with companies who aren't behaving in this way and that must be frustrating?

Greenbury: What we said, and what our chairman said when we announced this policy, is that we really expect other industry players to follow our steps. So if there are companies, whether they are competitors or not, who follow our steps we would be very happy about that.

Poynton: I think that the company, like any company, is a red-blooded organization that's interested in its business, and they do expect to get a commercial return from this, but they are not out there hunting it now. They recognize that they have to prove to the world that these policies are being implemented. It's not immediate -- the teams are out there in the bush doing a lot of work and the company will put out monthly reports on progress and keeping people posted that things are happening on the ground.

At the end of the day, APP is the second-largest pulp and paper company in the world because it has a good quality product and a good cost of production model. There are a lot of companies that got APP out of their business, and that cost them a lot of money and it hurt them. I suspect there will be companies out there that will watch this process for a couple of months and then when they feel that the monthly reports are coming out and there are no Greenpeace attacks anymore, then the phone will ring in the sales office and say, "Do you reckon we can have a chat?" Because they will be pretty keen to buy APP product again.

There are a number of pulp and paper companies in the world who have not necessarily been attacked by Greenpeace and they have benefited from people who have been exiting APP, but still having to buy paper. I suspect a lot companies are a bit nervous now, because APP was such a poster child and such a source of business for them that if APP is getting itself sorted out then clients could go back to APP. APP could make hay out of this if things go well. I believe the company did have a vision to do the right thing, they have a vision to be No. 1 in the world, but I reckon a lot of pulp and paper companies are pretty nervous right now, because while Greenpeace was beating up on APP they were winning a lot of business.

This article reprinted with permission from BusinessGreen.

Photo of deforestation in Indonesia provided by the Rainforest Action Network via Flickr.