Yayasan EcoNusa Indonesia, Yayasan Madani Berkelanjutan, and KKI-WARSI warn that the objectives of the Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, are at risk of failure. One of the main reasons is the continued annual deforestation that is projected to persist until 2030.

Unfortunately, countries with vast natural forest cover—such as Indonesia, Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Peru, Colombia, and Myanmar—do not yet have plans to fully halt deforestation and forest degradation within their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Emission reduction plans outlined in the NDCs of these six countries still contain high levels of planned deforestation. In several cases, deforestation is even expected to increase through 2030.

These findings are highlighted in a recent study conducted by the Rainforest Foundation Norway (RFN) together with partners in the six countries. The study notes that Indonesia’s NDC is the clearest among the six, as it includes quantified targets for reducing emissions from deforestation. Nevertheless, Indonesia’s NDC still allows for planned deforestation equivalent to the size of Belgium between 2021 and 2030—amounting to 3.25 million hectares.

“We call for a review of Indonesia’s NDC document, particularly in the Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) sector. Allowing deforestation to continue not only undermines global efforts to curb climate change, but also threatens forest ecosystems rich in biodiversity,” said Melda Wita Sitompul, Director of Yayasan EcoNusa, speaking from the COP24 venue in Katowice, Poland, on Tuesday (4 December).

EcoNusa stressed the importance of halting forest loss, especially in Papua, which is currently Indonesia’s last remaining stronghold of natural forests and home to the world’s third-largest tropical forest. In line with the vision of West Papua as a Conservation Province pursuing sustainable development, EcoNusa calls for the involvement of all stakeholders to achieve a deforestation-free Indonesia, as deforestation pressures are increasingly shifting toward Papua.

“Referring to the spirit of the Manokwari Declaration, this responsibility cannot rest solely on the Government. Cooperation is needed from all parties—academics, the private sector, and donor countries—to create financing and incentive systems for those who protect their forests,” she added.

Efforts to reduce deforestation and halt degradation were also included as one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets for 2020. In addition, the New York Declaration on Forests (NYDF), signed by the Government of Indonesia, aims to halve deforestation by 2020 and end it entirely by 2030. The Bonn Challenge also seeks to restore 150 million hectares of degraded land by 2020 and 350 million hectares by 2030, though Indonesia is not among its signatories.

Emmy Primadona, Program Coordinator at KKI-WARSI, urged the Indonesian Government to place the protection of forest-dependent communities’ rights at the center of emission reduction strategies. Community empowerment and financing are essential to improve livelihoods, strengthen sustainable forest management, and prevent deforestation.

“Deforestation prevention can also be accelerated through social forestry implementation, strengthening the moratorium on new permits, and conducting a comprehensive review of extractive licenses within forest areas that overlap with Indigenous and local community territories, including peatlands, which are among the largest emission sources in the land sector,” Emmy stated.

“To achieve NDC targets, corrective measures initiated by the Government must be implemented more seriously and must not serve merely as crowd-pleasers or symbolic gestures,” said Anggalia Putri, Program Manager at Yayasan Madani Berkelanjutan.

Key steps to strengthen emission reduction efforts in the forest and land sector include: fulfilling transparency commitments on licensing, strengthening government–civil society collaboration to combat natural resource corruption, increasing local government ownership through financial incentives, and reassessing sectoral targets that risk reversing emission reductions—such as the allocation of 5 million hectares of forest land for large-scale concession expansion, which could also intensify conflicts with communities.

RFN and its partners urge all six countries studied to review their NDCs and use the period leading up to 2020 to clarify ambitions to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. Governments must also increase their ambition to curb forest-based emissions before 2030, and include forest and ecosystem restoration as part of mitigation efforts and biodiversity protection.

At the same time, developed countries are urged to significantly increase climate finance to support mitigation and adaptation efforts in tropical forest countries. They are also called upon to provide transparent, upfront information regarding funding commitments.

“Without adequate, transparent, and predictable financing, it will be difficult for tropical forest countries to increase their ambition to reduce emissions from forests and land use,” Anggalia Putri concluded.

Media Contacts

• Melda Wita Sitompul
  Director, Yayasan EcoNusa
  +62 813-8466-8817
  melda@econusa.id

• Emmy Primadona
  Program Coordinator, KKI-WARSI
  +62 811-7453-700
  emmy.than@gmail.com

• Anggalia Putri
  Knowledge Management Program Manager, Yayasan Madani Berkelanjutan
  +62 856-2118-997
  anggalia.putri@madaniberkelanjutan.id