Last month, Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry announced that it was cancelling a decade-long agreement with Norway known as REDD [reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation], under which Indonesia would receive payments for reducing deforestation rates.

According to Jakarta, Norway had delayed payments that were agreed by both parties after Indonesia posted its lowest deforestation rates on record.

Norway’s obstinacy and Indonesia’s response have profound implications for the European Union’s bold green ambitions, in particular its efforts to build on the global Paris climate accords. The chances of a deal at the forthcoming United Nations climate change conference (COP26) in Glasgow are now receding at pace.

If the European Commission is to play its part – and it has a central role to play, given the EU’s climate leadership – then learning the lessons of the REDD failure is essential.

When Indonesia and Norway signed their agreement in 2010, the forces shaping global climate policy were very different. Although a global problem, reducing emissions was a higher priority for wealthy countries; poor countries were simply more concerned with alleviating poverty and raising living standards.

It was well understood that a “low carbon transition” for poor, even middle-income, countries could not happen without the rich world effectively compensating poor countries. This included the idea of technology transfer: assisting poorer countries gain access to high-cost, low-emissions technologies.

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