Carbon trading must be integrated into Indonesia's efforts to achieve Net Zero Emissions (NZE ), as it is essentially just one of many instruments to help reduce emissions. This was conveyed by Anggalia Putri, Knowledge Management Manager of MADANI Berkelanjutan, during the "Guarding What Remains" TalkShop Series: "Assessing Carbon Trading Policy in Indonesia from a Climate Justice Perspective" on August 1, 2023, in Jakarta.
As the Indonesian government launches the Carbon Exchange in September 2023, the country's carbon trading scene is growing increasingly vibrant. Many are beginning to see the dual potential of this process, as it is not only seen as helping address the climate crisis but also as a way to generate revenue from exploiting existing forest resources.
However, the public must not lose sight of the fact that the essence of carbon trading is not merely to seek profit, but to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Anggalia Putri, commonly known as Anggi, added that climate justice must also be the breath of carbon trading because the impacts of climate change are felt more and more severely by vulnerable groups.
"In fact, not only carbon trading, but all climate change mitigation actions must be fair, especially for the most vulnerable groups in society," Anggi emphasized.
This time, the TalkShop, which took place in the Chatham House format , was attended by various respondents representing the government, academics, practitioners, and carbon trading business actors.
Some experts believe that carbon trading in Indonesia will focus on financing emissions reductions. The state budget can only cover less than 30% of the funding needed to achieve the NDC target, so carbon trading is needed to supplement this funding. In other words, public participation from business groups could cover this funding gap.
One of the discussion participants said that the carbon market itself was created to make emission reductions more affordable, not to reduce emissions directly, so there needs to be a special policy to encourage emission reductions.
Meanwhile, another participant explained that fairness in the carbon trading process also deserves government attention. " There is injustice in the form of damaging carbon trading in locations different from the offset locations. Offsets should also be implemented in locations where extractive industries exist, not just outside their areas. Emissions actors should bear the brunt of the burden, while the most vulnerable should receive the greatest benefits ," explained one participant.
Carbon trading should be implemented fairly so that it not only helps reduce emissions in order to address the climate crisis, but also provides a sense of justice for those who are harmed by the emitters.
Get the materials for this activity via the link below.
