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Norway pledges $1b for carbon cut
The government is upbeat it can reach its target to slice carbon emissions from forests after Norway pledged US$1 billion in grants to help Indonesia reduce forest degradation
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T
he government is upbeat it can reach its target to slice carbon emissions from forests after Norway pledged US$1 billion in grants to help Indonesia reduce forest degradation.
The financial pledge on climate change was made during a meeting between senior officials from the two countries in Oslo, last week.
“The cooperation convinces us that there will be international funding if we reduce emissions from forest and peatland areas,” the special assistant to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on climate change issues, Agus Purnomo, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
Agus, who represented the Indonesian government at the Oslo meeting, said that Norway was the first country that had shown a commitment to help finance to reduce emissions in the forestry sector.
Countries such as Australia and Germany currently provide money to run pilot projects on the reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) scheme.
Agus, former expert staff at the Environment Ministry, said that the financial commitment from the Norway government would be stated in a letter of intent (LoI), which will be drafted by the legal officers of the two countries.
It is not clear who and when the LoI will be signed.
He said that the money would also be used to set up an institution and legal instruments needed to ensure emission cuts could be verified in the field. “All emission cuts should be tested with MRV mechanisms,” he said.
MRV stands for measurable, reportable and verifiable, under which every ton of emission cuts should be assessed by independent auditors.
Indonesia has pledged to cut 26 percent of emissions by 2020 with the total state budget of Rp 83 trillion (US$9 billion) of which about 14 percent would be made in the forestry sector.
The country is also ready to slash another 15 percent of greenhouse gas emissions if other countries provide the funds.
The government has developed 70 programs that could reduce up to 2 billion tons of emissions. The 6 percent will only slash 767 million tons of emissions. “We will not cheat the public, the pledge from Norway will not be used to meet Indonesia’s target to cut 26 percent of emissions,” he said. The two countries have not yet discussed whether the funding will be aimed as offset for the Norway to meet its target to cut emissions. “We are still in the first phase of discussions. We have not determined the projects [of the 70 programs] that will be funded by the Norway government,” he said.
Climate Society Forum (CSF) coordinator Giorgio Indarto said that the government must ensure the money from the Norway government was purely a grant. “It is OK if money from Norway is a 100 percent grant to help Indonesia cut emissions. But if it is aimed as offset, the CSF will reject it,” he said.
An offset is often criticized by environmental groups as an attempt from large emitters to continue their large carbon footprint by paying money to developing countries.
