Jakarta, 27 August 2020 – Indonesia’s proposal for REDD+ Results-Based Payment (RBP) 2014-2016 Period received approval from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Board at the 26th Board Meeting. The GCF approved a funding of USD103.8 million on Indonesia’s effort in reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. The proposal recorded as the biggest proposal approved, surpassing Brazil with USD96.5 million under the REDD+ RBP Pilot Programme.

The proposal submitted by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF) presented the result of Indonesia’s REDD+ performance with an emissions reduction volume of around 20.3 million tons of carbon-dioxide equivalent (tCO2eq). Currently, Indonesia uses the average annual emissions of the land sector as baseline calculation, in line with the Guidelines for Land Use published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

MoEF will use the fund to strengthen, coordinate, and implement REDD+ architecture in Indonesia. Majority if the fund will be managed by Indonesia’s Environmental Fund Agency (BPDLH) which will be allocated to strengthen the decentralization of forest governance in the provinces through Forest Management Units (FMUs) and Social Forestry scheme for sustainable forest management.

Based on the proposal submitted to the GCF, the assistance given to FMUs are in the form of technical and institutional capacity building, the development of multi-stakeholder platform, and the development of participative social forest management in the FMUs. Furthermore, the fund will also be invested in some key areas namely forest fire prevention, reforestation, and community livelihood improvement. In the social forestry there are two main goals, the first one is to help Adat and non-Adat communities to obtain licenses under the six scheme of social forestry to expand the forest area, and the second one is to ensure the livelihood of communities who have obtained the license, to reduce the deforestation drivers.

The Minister of Environment and Forestry, Siti Nurbaya remarked, “This REDD-plus RBP serves as a proof of Indonesia’s commitment and performance in addressing climate change impact. This isn’t just a one-sided claim, the facts and consistency are verified by independent technical team assigned by the UNFCCC.”

In the submission and implementation of proposal, Ministry of Finance (MoF) takes part as the executive body through BPDLH and an observer through the GCF’s National Designated Authority in Indonesia. Generally, MoF has always been and always will support MoEF and other ministries in addressing climate change impact through various fiscal instrument and national or international funding.

The Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani conveyed, “We, from the Ministry of Finance are ready to support every step done (by the MoEF) sustaining our environment, to be passed on to our children and grandchildren.”

This approval is the second good news on REDD+ after the agreement of Norway’s RBP based on the Letter of Intent amounting USD56 million. These various achievements become a momentum for actors in forestry sector to drive more conservation projects in Indonesia. And to create a progressive climate change mitigation in land-use sector, the GCF is always open for all project developers ini Indonesia.