POLICY
JAKARTA (FORESTHINTS.NEWS) - In a meeting with a team of delegates from the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate (SPEC) John Kerry led by Senior Advisor Robert O. Blake Jr. (Mar 15), Indonesian Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya delivered the latest update on deforestation in the country, which was lower in 2020/2021 compared to the previous period (2019/2020).
As reported in detail by FORESTHINTS.NEWS, Minister Nurbaya announced in early March last year that deforestation across Indonesia in 2019/2020 stood at 115 thousand hectares, in itself a dramatic drop of 75% from the 2018/2019 period.
"Indonesia, under the leadership of President Joko Widodo, has consistently managed to substantially reduce deforestation. Deforestation in Indonesia during the 2020/2021 period was once again down from the previous period," Minister Nurbaya explained at the meeting.
Indonesia has maintained a downward trend in deforestation, especially marked in the last two periods, despite the ongoing global pandemic.
"This continuous decline in deforestation reflects Indonesia's efforts towards FOLU (Forestry and Other Land Use) NET SINK 2030," the minister asserted, having recently announced the release of the operational plan of the FOLU climate actions, as also covered by FORESTHINTS.NEWS (Mar 12).
Blake, a former U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia, commended the country’s efforts towards reducing deforestation, while also expressing concern about the positive correlation between increased deforestation and the trend of rising palm oil prices.
Minister Nurbaya responded to the former ambassador’s concerns by emphasizing that there has proven to be no positive correlation between reduced deforestation and high or low palm oil prices during the current administration.
This news report only covers some issues and concerns that arose during the meeting related to deforestation, palm oil and forestry, carbon governance, flagship species, energy transition and solid waste management. Other major matters that were discussed are not included here.
FOLU NET SINK 2030
Early in the meeting, Blake congratulated Minister Nurbaya on the recent release of Indonesia's FOLU NET SINK 2030 operational plan, while USAID Indonesia Mission Director Jeffery P. Cohen said that his organization’s support for Indonesia's FOLU NET SINK 2030 is a very high priority.
Minister Nurbaya pointed out again that tackling forest fires by applying ongoing permanent solutions (most notably the application of weather modification technology since two years ago) and undertaking peatland restoration and mangrove rehabilitation efforts are also part of the country’s FOLU NET SINK 2030 actions.
Blake remarked favorably on Indonesia's efforts at mangrove rehabilitation - the millions of hectares of mangrove forests in Indonesia are among the powers the country has to fight the climate crisis.
Papua's forests
Another major issue discussed at the meeting was Papua’s forests. Blake asked about further efforts by the Indonesian government in the wake of its revocation of millions of hectares of concession permits, including palm oil and forestry permits, in West Papua and Papua provinces.
Minister Nurbaya replied that around 70% of Papua's landmass forms part of the permanent moratorium on primary forest and peatland conversion, while over half of West Papua’s total landmass is covered by the moratorium map.
“More than 65% of the permanent moratorium map falls in the two provinces, spanning an area exceeding 26 million hectares. These huge areas (outsizing the UK) are outside the revoked permit concessions,” she added.
According to the minister, the large expanses of high conservation and carbon stock areas in revoked concession areas lying in both provinces have been prioritized for protection efforts, as ordered by the President.
The instruments involved in this, she continued, include social forestry and agrarian reforms, as well as the affirmation that the revocation of palm oil permit concessions is a major part of the evaluation of the implementation of the President's 3-year palm oil moratorium.
As previously reported by FORESTHINTS.NEWS in early January this year, data from the Indonesian forestry authorities shows that nearly all of the revoked permits were those granted during the 2004-2014 presidential period.
Carbon governance
Climate Counselor to the US Secretary of the Treasury John E. Morton also raised issues concerning Indonesia's carbon market value and its governance during the meeting.
Addressing this, Minister Nurbaya emphasized that Indonesia will continue to prioritize the country's economic value of carbon to fulfill its NDC target, in accordance with the landmark presidential regulation signed by President Widodo in late October last year prior to the COP26 summit.
The minister also underlined, however, that Indonesia would still set aside part of its economic value of carbon for the voluntary/international carbon market. The allocation and governance of this mechanism, she added, are clearly regulated in the landmark presidential regulation, which has two environment and forestry ministerial implementing regulations that will be in place soon.
"There is no part of Indonesia's economic value of carbon that is independent of legal arrangements, all of which are in line with strong carbon governance through a single monitoring system (National Registry System). Anything outside of this will face law enforcement actions," she stressed.
Minister Nurbaya also described in detail that there are legal arrangements regarding the calculation of the fulfillment of obligations and excess carbon reserves from emissions reduction efforts, which can then be duly traded on the voluntary/international carbon market.
Furthermore, the private sector has started consulting and designing the emissions reduction program and the value of carbon credits that will be generated, and some private sector components have started working on this within the carbon governance framework.
Meanwhile, of those already engaged with the carbon trade before the landmark presidential regulation was issued, several companies have also begun transitioning to meet their obligation of making adjustments that bring them into alignment with the landmark presidential regulation.
As an example of such a transition, the Indonesian forestry authorities have pointed to a particular restoration ecosystem concession which has made efforts to bring itself into legal compliance by paying non-tax state revenues as well as fines due to late payments totaling around USD5.38 million, as reported by FORESTHINTS.NEWS (Feb 23).
“The key is for all business players and other entities engaged in the carbon market to register in the SRN. I, of course, will continue to follow developments that occur (related to the implementation of good carbon governance practices).”
Flagship species
Indonesia is second to none as a host of the world’s flagship species, which include Sumatran orangutans, rhinos, tigers, and elephants as well as Tapanuli orangutans. The country also counts Bornean orangutans and Javan rhinos among its flagship species.
The country's permanent moratorium map, which covers more than 66 million hectares of primary forests and peatlands - larger than the UK and Norway combined - comprises key habitat for the flagship species to a substantial degree.
Indonesia is also home to the Leuser Ecosystem - the only place on earth coinhabited by Sumatran orangutans, rhinos, tigers, and elephants - which blankets an area equivalent to more than 2.6 million soccer fields, most of which is composed of conservation areas and protection forests, as well as some sustainable production landscapes.
In response to concerns raised by Blake about the Leuser Ecosystem, Minister Nurbaya pointed to her disclosure in March last year that deforestation had decreased there by more than 81% in 2019/2020 compared to the previous period.
The minister also took the opportunity to stress that law enforcement, particularly against illegal poaching and the wildlife trade, would be kept up and reiterated that there will be no extinction of flagship species, as underpinned by field-based evidence, and that Indonesia can look forward to its flagship species thriving and growing in number.
Accelerating energy transition
During the meeting, Minister Nurbaya explained that Indonesia's energy transition was focused on accelerating to greener energy. The level of efforts towards this, she continued, depends - among other things - on enhanced climate finance from developed countries, considering that Indonesia needs at least USD5.7 billion a year for its energy transition actions.
In the recent release of Indonesia's FOLU NET SINK 2030 operational plan, as reported by FORESTHINTS.NEWS (Mar 12), the minister gave another wake-up call for developed countries to expedite the delivery of their climate finance of an annual USD100 billion which was pledged more than a decade ago. This, the minister insisted, would boost Indonesia's energy transition efforts.
Minister Nurbaya and former ambassador Blake agreed that an accelerated energy transition is needed in Indonesia as a major overall climate goal.
Blake also said that the US is continuing to strengthen its bilateral climate partnership with Indonesia, including by exploring ways to support Indonesia's accelerated energy transition efforts.
Climate Counselor Morton concurred that the acceleration of energy transition was a vital part of the climate finance agenda, and also underscored the importance of the involvement of alternative financing from the private sector in this regard.
Solid waste management
Blake, Morton and Senior Advisor to the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate Reed Schuler also brought up waste management issues, such as the disposal of plastic waste into the ocean. They pointed out that solid waste contributes directly to methane emissions and that waste management, therefore, should form a substantial part of Indonesia's efforts to reduce emissions.
Minister Nurbaya stated that concerted efforts will continue to be undertaken to address waste management concerns, including by mobilizing joint efforts with local governments, in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, to deal with waste disposal into oceans as well as rivers.
She also said that addressing waste management is one of Indonesia's major legally-binding climate priorities and is being treated as a mainstream concern during the Indonesian G20 presidency.
"Among our achievements in waste management has been the Climate Village Program, or Proklim, which involves stakeholders, river cleaning movements, and ocean plastic waste cleaning movements, and which has expanded practices in waste recycling technology,” the minister explained.
“Dealing with waste management is ultimately a community-based movement, and our ongoing efforts are heading in that direction,” she added.
Exceptionally productive meeting
Both parties agreed that the meeting had been exceptionally productive and an important part of efforts to continue strengthening the climate partnership between the two countries.
Besides Blake, Cohen, Morton, and Schuler, the SPEC delegation team who attended the meeting also included Stephanie Mann, a representative of the chief of the USFS, as well as Sandy Lien and Nick Austin from the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta. Mann expressed appreciation for Indonesia's success in tackling forest fires, among other things.
Indonesia has successfully navigated the two years of the global pandemic without enduring the much-predicted double-disaster of haze-causing fires compounded by the effects of the pandemic, as also reported by FORESTHINTS.NEWS in October last year.
Minister Nurbaya's team at the meeting, meanwhile, included the Ministry's Director General of Sustainable Forest Management Agus Justianto, Director General of Climate Change Laksmi Dewanthi, and Director General of Forestry Planology and Environmental Governance Ruandha Agung Sugardiman, along with the minister's informal advisory team for strengthening the US-Indonesia’s bilateral climate partnership.
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POLICY
JAKARTA (FORESTHINTS.NEWS) - In a meeting with a team of delegates from the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate (SPEC) John Kerry led by Senior Advisor Robert O. Blake Jr. (Mar 15), Indonesian Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya delivered the latest update on deforestation in the country, which was lower in 2020/2021 compared to the previous period (2019/2020).
As reported in detail by FORESTHINTS.NEWS, Minister Nurbaya announced in early March last year that deforestation across Indonesia in 2019/2020 stood at 115 thousand hectares, in itself a dramatic drop of 75% from the 2018/2019 period.
"Indonesia, under the leadership of President Joko Widodo, has consistently managed to substantially reduce deforestation. Deforestation in Indonesia during the 2020/2021 period was once again down from the previous period," Minister Nurbaya explained at the meeting.
Indonesia has maintained a downward trend in deforestation, especially marked in the last two periods, despite the ongoing global pandemic.
"This continuous decline in deforestation reflects Indonesia's efforts towards FOLU (Forestry and Other Land Use) NET SINK 2030," the minister asserted, having recently announced the release of the operational plan of the FOLU climate actions, as also covered by FORESTHINTS.NEWS (Mar 12).
Blake, a former U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia, commended the country’s efforts towards reducing deforestation, while also expressing concern about the positive correlation between increased deforestation and the trend of rising palm oil prices.
Minister Nurbaya responded to the former ambassador’s concerns by emphasizing that there has proven to be no positive correlation between reduced deforestation and high or low palm oil prices during the current administration.
This news report only covers some issues and concerns that arose during the meeting related to deforestation, palm oil and forestry, carbon governance, flagship species, energy transition and solid waste management. Other major matters that were discussed are not included here.
FOLU NET SINK 2030
Early in the meeting, Blake congratulated Minister Nurbaya on the recent release of Indonesia's FOLU NET SINK 2030 operational plan, while USAID Indonesia Mission Director Jeffery P. Cohen said that his organization’s support for Indonesia's FOLU NET SINK 2030 is a very high priority.
Minister Nurbaya pointed out again that tackling forest fires by applying ongoing permanent solutions (most notably the application of weather modification technology since two years ago) and undertaking peatland restoration and mangrove rehabilitation efforts are also part of the country’s FOLU NET SINK 2030 actions.
Blake remarked favorably on Indonesia's efforts at mangrove rehabilitation - the millions of hectares of mangrove forests in Indonesia are among the powers the country has to fight the climate crisis.
Papua's forests
Another major issue discussed at the meeting was Papua’s forests. Blake asked about further efforts by the Indonesian government in the wake of its revocation of millions of hectares of concession permits, including palm oil and forestry permits, in West Papua and Papua provinces.
Minister Nurbaya replied that around 70% of Papua's landmass forms part of the permanent moratorium on primary forest and peatland conversion, while over half of West Papua’s total landmass is covered by the moratorium map.
“More than 65% of the permanent moratorium map falls in the two provinces, spanning an area exceeding 26 million hectares. These huge areas (outsizing the UK) are outside the revoked permit concessions,” she added.
According to the minister, the large expanses of high conservation and carbon stock areas in revoked concession areas lying in both provinces have been prioritized for protection efforts, as ordered by the President.
The instruments involved in this, she continued, include social forestry and agrarian reforms, as well as the affirmation that the revocation of palm oil permit concessions is a major part of the evaluation of the implementation of the President's 3-year palm oil moratorium.
As previously reported by FORESTHINTS.NEWS in early January this year, data from the Indonesian forestry authorities shows that nearly all of the revoked permits were those granted during the 2004-2014 presidential period.
Carbon governance
Climate Counselor to the US Secretary of the Treasury John E. Morton also raised issues concerning Indonesia's carbon market value and its governance during the meeting.
Addressing this, Minister Nurbaya emphasized that Indonesia will continue to prioritize the country's economic value of carbon to fulfill its NDC target, in accordance with the landmark presidential regulation signed by President Widodo in late October last year prior to the COP26 summit.
The minister also underlined, however, that Indonesia would still set aside part of its economic value of carbon for the voluntary/international carbon market. The allocation and governance of this mechanism, she added, are clearly regulated in the landmark presidential regulation, which has two environment and forestry ministerial implementing regulations that will be in place soon.
"There is no part of Indonesia's economic value of carbon that is independent of legal arrangements, all of which are in line with strong carbon governance through a single monitoring system (National Registry System). Anything outside of this will face law enforcement actions," she stressed.
Minister Nurbaya also described in detail that there are legal arrangements regarding the calculation of the fulfillment of obligations and excess carbon reserves from emissions reduction efforts, which can then be duly traded on the voluntary/international carbon market.
Furthermore, the private sector has started consulting and designing the emissions reduction program and the value of carbon credits that will be generated, and some private sector components have started working on this within the carbon governance framework.
Meanwhile, of those already engaged with the carbon trade before the landmark presidential regulation was issued, several companies have also begun transitioning to meet their obligation of making adjustments that bring them into alignment with the landmark presidential regulation.
As an example of such a transition, the Indonesian forestry authorities have pointed to a particular restoration ecosystem concession which has made efforts to bring itself into legal compliance by paying non-tax state revenues as well as fines due to late payments totaling around USD5.38 million, as reported by FORESTHINTS.NEWS (Feb 23).
“The key is for all business players and other entities engaged in the carbon market to register in the SRN. I, of course, will continue to follow developments that occur (related to the implementation of good carbon governance practices).”
Flagship species
Indonesia is second to none as a host of the world’s flagship species, which include Sumatran orangutans, rhinos, tigers, and elephants as well as Tapanuli orangutans. The country also counts Bornean orangutans and Javan rhinos among its flagship species.
The country's permanent moratorium map, which covers more than 66 million hectares of primary forests and peatlands - larger than the UK and Norway combined - comprises key habitat for the flagship species to a substantial degree.
Indonesia is also home to the Leuser Ecosystem - the only place on earth coinhabited by Sumatran orangutans, rhinos, tigers, and elephants - which blankets an area equivalent to more than 2.6 million soccer fields, most of which is composed of conservation areas and protection forests, as well as some sustainable production landscapes.
In response to concerns raised by Blake about the Leuser Ecosystem, Minister Nurbaya pointed to her disclosure in March last year that deforestation had decreased there by more than 81% in 2019/2020 compared to the previous period.
The minister also took the opportunity to stress that law enforcement, particularly against illegal poaching and the wildlife trade, would be kept up and reiterated that there will be no extinction of flagship species, as underpinned by field-based evidence, and that Indonesia can look forward to its flagship species thriving and growing in number.
Accelerating energy transition
During the meeting, Minister Nurbaya explained that Indonesia's energy transition was focused on accelerating to greener energy. The level of efforts towards this, she continued, depends - among other things - on enhanced climate finance from developed countries, considering that Indonesia needs at least USD5.7 billion a year for its energy transition actions.
In the recent release of Indonesia's FOLU NET SINK 2030 operational plan, as reported by FORESTHINTS.NEWS (Mar 12), the minister gave another wake-up call for developed countries to expedite the delivery of their climate finance of an annual USD100 billion which was pledged more than a decade ago. This, the minister insisted, would boost Indonesia's energy transition efforts.
Minister Nurbaya and former ambassador Blake agreed that an accelerated energy transition is needed in Indonesia as a major overall climate goal.
Blake also said that the US is continuing to strengthen its bilateral climate partnership with Indonesia, including by exploring ways to support Indonesia's accelerated energy transition efforts.
Climate Counselor Morton concurred that the acceleration of energy transition was a vital part of the climate finance agenda, and also underscored the importance of the involvement of alternative financing from the private sector in this regard.
Solid waste management
Blake, Morton and Senior Advisor to the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate Reed Schuler also brought up waste management issues, such as the disposal of plastic waste into the ocean. They pointed out that solid waste contributes directly to methane emissions and that waste management, therefore, should form a substantial part of Indonesia's efforts to reduce emissions.
Minister Nurbaya stated that concerted efforts will continue to be undertaken to address waste management concerns, including by mobilizing joint efforts with local governments, in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, to deal with waste disposal into oceans as well as rivers.
She also said that addressing waste management is one of Indonesia's major legally-binding climate priorities and is being treated as a mainstream concern during the Indonesian G20 presidency.
"Among our achievements in waste management has been the Climate Village Program, or Proklim, which involves stakeholders, river cleaning movements, and ocean plastic waste cleaning movements, and which has expanded practices in waste recycling technology,” the minister explained.
“Dealing with waste management is ultimately a community-based movement, and our ongoing efforts are heading in that direction,” she added.
Exceptionally productive meeting
Both parties agreed that the meeting had been exceptionally productive and an important part of efforts to continue strengthening the climate partnership between the two countries.
Besides Blake, Cohen, Morton, and Schuler, the SPEC delegation team who attended the meeting also included Stephanie Mann, a representative of the chief of the USFS, as well as Sandy Lien and Nick Austin from the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta. Mann expressed appreciation for Indonesia's success in tackling forest fires, among other things.
Indonesia has successfully navigated the two years of the global pandemic without enduring the much-predicted double-disaster of haze-causing fires compounded by the effects of the pandemic, as also reported by FORESTHINTS.NEWS in October last year.
Minister Nurbaya's team at the meeting, meanwhile, included the Ministry's Director General of Sustainable Forest Management Agus Justianto, Director General of Climate Change Laksmi Dewanthi, and Director General of Forestry Planology and Environmental Governance Ruandha Agung Sugardiman, along with the minister's informal advisory team for strengthening the US-Indonesia’s bilateral climate partnership.
RELATED STORIES
