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Government outlines carbon sink strategy in new regulation
Environmentalists are not impressed because they believe the strategy shows that the government still does not want to fully stop deforestation despite pressure from environmental groups.
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Greenpeace Indonesia activists stage a protest against the destruction of forests in Papua at the Environment and Forestry Ministry's office in Jakarta on April 8, 2021. (Antara/Indrianto Eko Suwarso)
T
he government has finally come up with a detailed strategy on how to turn the forestry and land-use sector into a carbon sink by 2030.
The strategy to achieve the target is detailed in a ministerial decree issued by Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar in late February, seven months after Indonesia updated its pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat.
Forestry is the nation's largest source of emissions, at nearly 925,000 gigagrams of carbon dioxide equivalent (Gg CO2e) in 2019 and a carbon sink is when a forest absorbs more carbon than it releases.
“Indonesia is working to achieve its climate-mitigation target. We are not waiting for promises from developed countries as we are working for our own national interest,” Siti said at an online discussion hosted by the Gadjah Mada University Alumni Association (KAGAMA) on Sunday.
Read also: Indonesia aims to transform forests into carbon sink
The decree outlines ways to halt rates of deforestation and forest degradation, improving social forestry programs, rehabilitating natural and industrial forests, restoring peatlands and mangroves and conserving wildlife diversity.
“Our main target is still to reduce deforestation and forest degradation. The challenges are not easy as we have to build the foundation for sustainable development […] without sacrificing the needs of future generations,” Siti said.
