The government has said it is confident that the nation will achieve its target to reduce emissions by 26 percent by 2020 without hurting its economy.

National Development Planning Minister Armida S. Alisjahbana ensured that the presidential regulation on the national action plan on reducing greenhouse emissions (RAN-GRK) would not disrupt Indonesia’s macroeconomic policies geared toward sustained economic growth.

The 2011 regulation lays out applicable and measurable plans, ensuring accountability for the goals described in the country’s 2020 emission reduction targets. “We don’t want to see our emission reduction targets contrasted with efforts to both foster and expand our economic developments,” said Armida in her remarks at the launch of the presidential regulation last week.

While attending the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh in September 2009, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pledged an emission reduction target of 26 percent from business under a normal scenario by 2020 or 41 percent with international assistance.

“This [presidential] regulation explains measures needed to have our 2020 emission reduction targets fully achieved,” said Armida.

The RAN-GRK spells out the 2020 emission reduction targets in five main sectors, namely forestry and peatlands, agriculture, energy and transportation, industry, and waste management.

Endah Murniningtyas, the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) deputy head for natural resources and environment, said that the national action plan identified activities that would be carried out by both communities and business players to reduce greenhouse emissions. It also presented measurement tools that could be used to determine reductions in emissions, she added.

Fifty main activities and 73 supporting activities will be carried out by 20 ministries and other governmental institutions.

“Each ministry and other non-governmental institutions can take concrete measures to reduce carbon emissions together with communities and business players as we have spelled out activities set out in the RAN-GRK in both the medium-term development plan (RPJMN) for 2010-2014 and the government’s annual work plan,” Endah said, adding that the plan would also be translated into local plans.

The RAN-GRK projects that Indonesia’s total emission would reach 2.95 giga tons of CO2-equivalent by 2020, in which 52 percent or 1,545 million tons of CO2-equivalent (CO2e) of the total emission would come from the forestry and peatland sectors. To meet the 26 percent emission reduction target, the forestry and peatland sectors should reduce their emissions to 672 million tons of CO2e or 1,039 million tons of CO2e if using the 41 percent target.

Hadi Daryanto, secretary-general of the Forestry Ministry, said that a total 1,545 million tons of CO2e in emissions from the forestry and peatland sectors were equivalent to the rate of deforestation and forest degradation of 1.13 million hectares per year. However, he said, the deforestation level had decreased to 832,000 hectares per year in 2009, showing a 293,000 hectare decrease or equal to 193 million tons of CO2e.

“So, frankly speaking, the forestry and peatland sectors have decreased their emissions 30 percent of the total reduction targeted in the regulation,” Hadi told The Jakarta Post. For 2010, he said, the emission reduction from the two sectors may even be more following the ongoing A Billion Tree Planting Campaign.

Meanwhile, Heru Prasetyo from the Presidential Work Unit for Development Monitoring and Control ( UKP4 ) said that instead of only reducing 26 percent of its carbon emission by 2020, Indonesia should aim for a 41 percent emission reduction target.

With such a target, he said, deforestation should not surpass 400,000 hectares per year. “With current deforestation at about 800,000 hectares per year, I don’t know whether we can reduce the level to 400,000 hectares per year by 2020,” said Heru, skeptically.