Indonesia gets its first rainforest grant from Norway
Staff Writer |
Indonesia confirms that carbon emissions from deforestation declined in 2017.
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When the emission figures are independently verified, Norway will guarantee payments to Indonesia for approximately 4.8 millions tons of CO2.
This will be the first payment for reduced emissions during the climate and forest partnership between the two countries that started in 2010.
Halting deforestation is essential for the world to meet the Paris Climate Goals.
Meeting in Jakarta on Saturday, the Minister of Environment and Forests of Indonesia, Ms. Siti Nurbaya Bakar and the Minister of Climate and Environment of Norway, Mr. Ola Elvestuen, announced that the two countries were launching a new phase of their landmark bilateral climate and forest partnership that started in 2010.
The two countries have agreed to the rules for results-based payments from Norway to Indonesia for reduced emissions.
With that, Indonesia will be the largest rainforest nation to receive payments for reduced deforestation at the national level.
Indonesia has implemented a number of critical reforms and actions in the forest and land use sectors over the last few years.
The government has introduced new measures to protect forests, including a ban on destroying primary forests and peatlands.
In 2018, president Jokowi announced a policy to drive future increases in palm oil production from existing plantations instead of opening new forest areas.
Indonesia has embarked on a comprehensive legal review of existing forestry and agriculture concessions, and increased law enforcement efforts against forest crimes.
Importantly, the adat and other local communities have gained rights to land.
Following an independent third-party verification of the annual emission reduction numbers Indonesia presented today, Norway will guarantee payment for a portion of the result.
Assuming the verified result matches the reported result for 2016-17, the first payment would be for approximately 4.8 million tons CO2.
In 2010, Norway pledged to support Indonesia with up to 1 billion USD depending on results.
So far, about 13% of this pledge has been spent to support the efforts of the Indonesian government to address deforestation.
Indonesia has the world's third largest tropical rainforest.
The total emissions from deforestation and peatland destruction has put Indonesia amongst the world's top emitters, but Indonesia has set ambitious targets for reducing its emissions from deforestation.
It has called for international partnerships to increase its ambitious contributions to the Paris Climate Agreement and reduce emissions by up to 41% by 2030.
Forests are critical for meeting both the Paris Climate Agreement and many of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Substantial actions on reducing emissions from deforestation are necessary if the world is to keep global temperature increase below 1,5–2 degrees. ■
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