Indonesia postpones launch of climate commitment document at COP29

Jakarta (ANTARA) –
The Indonesian Government has postponed the launch of the Second Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) document, which lays down its latest carbon emission reduction commitment, at the COP29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The Second NDC document, which the Ministry of Environment and Forestry started preparing in February 2024, was scheduled to be launched at COP29.

According to PIKUL Foundation Executive Director Torry Kuswardono, the document, which is targeted to be submitted in February 2025, must include clear support for human rights, indigenous peoples’ rights, and a just energy transition.

“It is not enough to just respect indigenous peoples’ knowledge, but it must also explicitly mention indigenous peoples’ land rights because their knowledge is in nature and their land. Not in books,” he said in a statement issued on Thursday.

This is the fourth document that Indonesia intends to submit to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

However, the plan was postponed as the document needs to be adjusted to the 8 percent economic growth target and the direction of the new government.

Several Indonesian civil society organizations that attended the negotiations in Baku reminded that the Second NDC document should be more ambitious than the draft document circulated earlier.

Forest campaigner at Greenpeace Indonesia, Iqbal Damanik, said that if Indonesia submits the Second NDC at this year’s COP, it would clarify the targets and needs of Indonesia’s climate funding.

As a country that is vulnerable to and affected by the climate crisis, Indonesia’s leadership is urgently needed.

“Unfortunately, at COP29, Indonesia is busy promoting the potential for carbon credits, which are not included in public climate funding. Indonesia’s fiscal space is narrow if it relies on this carbon funding, the funds do not go to the public, but are more burdensome to the private sector,” he said.

Without an agreement on reducing emissions, the carbon market will be at risk of giving pollution rights, he stressed.

Indonesia needs massive climate funding to build renewable energy power plants and restore areas affected by disasters arising out of the climate crisis.

The NDC document contains climate commitments, targets, and efforts. It is submitted every five years as part of each country’s contribution to global emissions reduction. Indonesia’s First NDC document was submitted in 2016 and the Second NDC document in 2021.

A year later, it submitted the third document, the Enhanced NDC. In the 2022 document, Indonesia increased its emission reduction goal through its own efforts from 29 percent to 31.89 percent, and with international support from 41 percent to 43.2 percent.

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