Indonesia has terminated a forest conservation agreement with Norway, raising concerns about deforestation

[ASEAN NOW Content Team]

 

The news caught the Norwegian government and activists off guard, coming just days before a moratorium on new palm oil concessions was removed.

 

The government abruptly cancelled a decade-long financial deal with Norway, putting the future of forest conservation in Indonesia in jeopardy.

Norway committed to pay the Indonesian government $1 billion for reducing emissions by conserving peatlands and forests under a payment-by-results agreement struck in 2010.

 

Following a series of obstacles and delays, the two countries were contemplating a $56 million initial payment when Jakarta abruptly cancelled the agreement.

Indonesia's foreign ministry claimed in a statement dated September 10 that the decision was based on "lack of concrete progress" in Norway providing the funds and came after "a series of rigorous inter-ministerial deliberations."

The decision, it said, "would have no bearing on the Indonesian government's commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

 

However, activists in Indonesia are afraid that the decision could jeopardise the country's climate ambitions.
It takes away an incentive to maintain the forests at a time when the government is lifting a prohibition on new palm oil concessions and devoting big swaths of land to agricultural as part of a food security strategy.

Greenpeace's Indonesia forest campaign manager, Kiki Taufik, told Climate Home News that the ruling was significant.
“Ending the accord means loosening deforestation controls,” he said, adding that the government's desire to reduce emissions was "questionable."

 

The Jakarta Post editorial lambasted Indonesia's move, calling it "rash" and presenting the impression of "intolerance and arrogance rarely seen in such high-profile bilateral ties."

The money is needed to conserve the rainforest, according to the newspaper, as part of a UN effort known as Redd+.

While Indonesia took a decade to disclose, measure, and independently verify its forestry emissions to international standards, “the government elected to start over,” it noted.

 

Indonesia is home to ten percent of the world's tropical rainforests and three-quarters of the world's tropical peatlands.
Commodity-driven deforestation and fires are threatening these carbon-rich ecosystems.

Over the last 20 years, emissions from land use change and the forestry industry have accounted for about half of Indonesia's total emissions.

 

Indonesia has designated the Redd+ project as a "essential component" in its newly updated 2030 climate plan to combat emissions from the industry.
It expected the scheme to deliver more than half of the required carbon reductions to fulfil its target.

Both parties have been urged to find a way to work together again, according to campaigners.
Taufik stated, "Indonesia is far from fulfilling its climate target, and international assistance is still required."