Indonesia Ends REDD+ Cooperation With Norway, Minister Of Environment And Forestry: There Are Principles Not Found

Siti Nurbaya's photo

JAKARTA - The Minister of Environment and Forestry (LHK), Siti Nurbaya, finally opened up. She explained the reason for the government to end the Letter of Intent (LoI) between Indonesia and the Kingdom of Norway on Cooperation in Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+).

"This was signed in May 2010, so actually in May 2020, it was over. Therefore, we have actually studied and there has been a joint consultative group between Indonesia and Norway to study further developments", said Siti in a working meeting with Commission IV of the Indonesian House of Representatives. followed from Jakarta on Wednesday, September 21.

According to Siti, during the process from May 2020 until now, the two countries have not found an agreement in principle including the Result Based Payment incentive.

She explained that there were several issues, such as the rules of the game with Norway, which should have resulted in an incentive for Result Based Payment by the cooperation.

"But the interaction requires many things, including how BPDLH is evaluated, even though it is a Presidential Regulation. How are the provisions on environmental funds also evaluated according to their rules and so on?", Siti said.

"So we can see that there are things that are very principled that are not met, therefore the government has decided not to extend it", she added.

In a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Friday, September 10, the decision was taken through an intensive consultation process. In addition, considering the absence of concrete progress in the implementation of the Norwegian government's obligation to realize the Result Based Payment (RBP) for the realization of Indonesia's emission reduction of 11.2 million tons of CO2eq in 2016/2017, which has been verified by international institutions.

Termination of cooperation on REDD+, will not have any effect on Indonesia's commitment to meet emission reduction targets.

Indonesia has made significant progress in fulfilling the obligations of the Paris Agreement which has been ratified by the Indonesian government, including realizing the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Indonesia's achievements can be seen, among others, from the lowest deforestation rate for 20 years achieved in 2020, as well as a significant reduction in the area of forest fires in Indonesia.

Promise IDR 840 billion

Previously, Indonesia was considered to have succeeded in reducing the rate of deforestation and forest degradation. That's why Indonesia was promised to get paid for work to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from Norway worth 56 million US dollars or more than IDR 840 billion.

The Minister of Environment and Forestry, Siti Nurbaya, said last May that the handover of the funds would be in June. This moment coincided with the 10th anniversary of the two countries agreeing on climate finance cooperation through a Letter of Intent (LoI) commitment in 2010.

"It is projected that in June 2020 the funds will be paid using the Result Based Payment (RBP) scheme. This is the first payment for the achievement of reducing carbon emissions from forestry in 2016/2017", said Minister Siti.

Siti revealed Indonesia's GHG emission reduction in 2016/2017 was reported to be 4.8 million tons of CO2eq. The official submission was made in June 2019 for the first RBP from REDD+, and then verification was carried out according to the MRV provisions.

After verification by Norway from November 1, 2019, to March 2020, the 2016/2017 emission reduction was 11.2 million tonnes CO2eq, which is higher than the original report of 4.8 million tonnes CO2eq.

The price per ton of CO2eq is 5 US dollars. This amount refers to the prevailing price at the World Bank on REDD+. After the first payment, carbon payments or RBP will be carried out for work performance in 2017/2018 and beyond.