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Govt reignites REDD+ to meet 2017 target
After being dormant for half year due to the abolishment of the National Emissions Reduction from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Agency (BP REDD+), the government is reigniting Indonesiaâs REDD+ agenda as it commits to fully implement the agenda by 2017
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fter being dormant for half year due to the abolishment of the National Emissions Reduction from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Agency (BP REDD+), the government is reigniting Indonesia's REDD+ agenda as it commits to fully implement the agenda by 2017.
In past few months, there has been little to no talk on REDD+ as the government is undergoing massive restructuring in its environment and forestry sector through the merging of the forestry ministry and the environment ministry, as well as absorbing the BP REDD+ into the merged ministry.
'Indonesia is actually one of the few countries that are progressive in REDD+, but we have lost some important momentum, one of the reasons being that we nurture differences too much,' the Environment and Forestry Ministry's climate change mitigation director-general, Nur Masripatin said on Tuesday.
She was speaking during a national workshop on REDD+ in Jakarta, aimed to flesh out the government's future REDD+ plan, deemed critical to meeting the country's emissions reduction target of 26 percent by 2019, as the burning of forests and peatlands accounts for more than 60 percent of the country's overall greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2010, Indonesia signed a letter of intent with the Norwegian government to reduce forest-based gas emissions in return for financial support of up to US$1 billion.
Under the agreement, Indonesia is required to fully implement the REDD+ agenda by setting up a functional national mechanism of contributions for verified emissions reduction (VER) by 2017. The process is divided into three phases, with the first phase being the establishment of the BP REDD+, the first REDD+ agency in the world, in 2013 by former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Despite the initial setback, Nur said that she was optimistic her directorate-general, which leads the country's fight against global warming, would be able to fully implement the REDD+ agenda, fulfilling the agreement with Norway.
'We can do it if we move fast. We still have one year in 2016, so it's possible,' she told The Jakarta Post.
Nur said that it was easier for the current government to meet the target since the previous government had prepared most of the infrastructure needed.
'Actually we already have it all, except for the finance mechanism. Moreover, with the merging of the REDD+ agenda in the Environment and Forestry Ministry, all planning is under one administration. So I believe it's easier,' she said, citing the Forest Reference Emission Level (FREL) and the Integrated Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) system as examples of infrastructure that is already available.
The BP REDD+ has been working on a financing scheme called the Financing REDD+ in Indonesia (FREDDI), which would distribute financial assistance under three instruments: grants, investments and trade intermediaries.
Grants would be allocated directly to people affected by climate change and communities that help reduce emissions by providing them access to employment, health and education.
However, it is unclear whether the climate change directorate-general will adopt the scheme or not.
'The concept of FREDDI is being discussed as one of the options, whether it can be adopted by putting it under a certain institution or not,' Nur said.
Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said on Tuesday that the government was in the process of finalizing the infrastructure of the country's REDD+ program, such as FREL and MRV.
'We will discuss the FREL this Friday and the MRV next Monday,' she said. FREL is a benchmark used by a country to measure its achievements in REDD+.
The BP REDD+ last year already established FREL using the forestry ministry's data from 2000 to 2012. The agency decided on 671,420 hectares per year as the benchmark for the country's deforestation rate until 2020, therefore Indonesia is considered to be succeeding in reducing deforestation if the rate falls below 671,420 hectares per year.
'We will expand the data using data from 1990. Our document has to be better than the past FREL,' Nur said.
