Indonesia's new green fund urged to focus on rainforest protection

(Reuters News, 17 Oct 2019) Environmentalists say the fund could help Indonesia meet its emissions reduction pledges, providing it is managed well.

A new green fund being set up by Indonesia should prioritise protecting its rainforests and creating a carbon trading programme to help the country meet its goals to curb climate change, environmentalists and officials said.

Indonesia's environment ministry last week launched an agency to manage funds to repair environmental damage and educate communities to prevent further harm.

The agency is due to begin operating at the start of 2020 with initial finance of about 2 trillion rupiah ($141 million) from land restoration payments and fines the state collects from environmental crime cases, as well as money from foreign donors.

The agency could potentially raise up to 800 trillion rupiah ($56.5 billion) for environmental projects, Indonesia's finance minister told reporters.

Vegard Kaale, Norway's ambassador to Indonesia, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation the new fund could help Indonesia meet its national commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement to tackle climate change, "if used efficiently".

"The income from reduced deforestation could benefit provinces and communities that are both producing emissions reductions and preserving biodiversity and are most at risk of the impacts of climate change," he said, referring to compensation the Southeast Asian nation may receive for keeping its forests standing.

External link

Reuters News, 17 Oct 2019: Indonesia's new green fund urged to focus on rainforest protection