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Indonesia’s deforestation rate off target for 2030 climate goal
Greenpeace Indonesia's analysis of official deforestation data revealed that Indonesia saw 4.8 million hectares of forest and peatland lost between 2013 and 2019, surpassing the country's target of limiting deforestation to 4.2 million ha between 2013 and 2030 to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
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An oil palm plantation is seen on July 31, 2019, in Merauke regency in Papua. The land was previously forested. (Thomson Reuters Foundation/Albertus Vembrianto)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo recently bragged to other world leaders about Indonesia’s achievements in significantly reducing deforestation, which is helping the country reach its carbon emissions reduction target to tackle the climate crisis.
But environmentalists refuted the claim, saying that Indonesia is actually behind in realizing its deforestation targets and urged the government to develop a more robust forest protection policy.
During the World Climate Action Summit segment of COP28 in Dubai on Dec. 2, Jokowi boasted Indonesia’s work in curbing the deforestation rate by 75 percent, and claimed that the current rate was the lowest in the last two decades.
The President referred to data from the Environment and Forestry Ministry that showed a reduction in deforestated land from 462,000 hectares in the 2018-2019 period to 115,000 ha in 2019-2020, according to a statement the ministry issued on Dec. 5.
Jokowi reiterated one of Indonesia’s climate targets in Dubai, saying that deforestation reduction was part of the country’s goal of achieving a forest and other land use (FOLU) net carbon sink – a condition in which the carbon absorbed is higher than the carbon emitted each year.
Under the net sink plan, Indonesia plans for the FOLU sector to contribute to the country’s emissions reduction by absorbing 140 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) of greenhouse gases.
To achieve the FOLU net sink target, Indonesia must limit deforestation by up to 4.2 million ha between 2013 and 2030, according to the environment ministry’s estimate.
