- The Indonesian government has decided to terminate a $1 billion deal with Norway under which Indonesia preserves its rainforests to curb carbon dioxide emissions.
- The Indonesian government says the decision is made after thorough consultations and cites lack of progress in the payment by Norway as one of the reasons for the termination.
- The Indonesian government says it remains committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions despite ending the agreement.
JAKARTA — Indonesia has terminated a long-standing agreement with Norway, in which the latter agreed to pay US$1 billion if the forest-rich tropical country is able to slow its emissions from deforestation.
The Indonesian government cited lack of progress in the payment as one of the reasons to terminate the agreement, enshrined in a Letter of Intent (LOI) signed by the two countries in 2010 under the REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) mechanism.
Indonesia is home to the world’s third-largest span of tropical rainforest, after Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo. When these rainforests are destroyed or degraded, large amount of CO2 emissions are released into the atmosphere.
In 2019, the Norwegian government agreed to pay 530 million Norwegian Krone ($56 million) for Indonesia preventing the emission of 11.23 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) through reducing its rate of deforestation in 2017.
When the announcement was made, environmentalists lauded it, saying that the funding serves as both an acknowledgement of the years of efforts to reach this stage of protecting the country’s forests, and an incentive to boost measures to combat deforestation.
Therefore, the decision to terminate the agreement took many environmentalists by surprise.
The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it made the decision “after a series of thorough inter-ministerial consultations.”
The Indonesian government also cited the lack of concrete progress on the payment as one of the reasons why it made the decision.
In April 2021, the Norwegian government said the discussion between the two countries to disburse the payment is still ongoing.
Alue Dohong, the Indonesian deputy minister for environment and forestry, previously said that the Southeast Asian country had fulfilled all of the requirements for the payment to be made.
“What I know is that [the payment] hasn’t been made by Norway,” he told Mongabay. “That’s one of the possible reasons why the LOI is terminated in my opinion.”
Despite the termination, the foreign ministry said it won’t affect Indonesia’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and tackle climate change.
“Indonesia has recorded many significant progress and achievements to fulfil its obligation under the Paris Agreement, which has been ratified, including in attaining sustainable development goals (SDGs),” the ministry said. “Indonesia’s achievement can also be seen, among others, on the lowest rate of deforestation in the past 20 year, including the significant reduction on forest fires.”
Banner image: A Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae). Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.
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