{"id":66739,"date":"2025-01-07T19:32:40","date_gmt":"2025-01-07T12:32:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/southeastasia\/?p=66739"},"modified":"2025-01-07T19:32:43","modified_gmt":"2025-01-07T12:32:43","slug":"plan-makes-mockery-of-climate-biodiversity-commitments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/southeastasia\/press\/66739\/plan-makes-mockery-of-climate-biodiversity-commitments\/","title":{"rendered":"Plan to Sacrifice 20 Million Hectares of Forest Makes Mockery of Indonesia\u2019s Climate and Biodiversity Commitments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jakarta, January 7, 2025 <\/strong>\u2013 <\/em> The Indonesian government\u2019s plan to clear 20 million hectares of forest for industrial food and energy projects signals a grave threat to Indonesia\u2019s climate and biodiversity commitments. The move, announced by Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni, will accelerate biodiversity loss, release a surge of carbon into the atmosphere, and harm Indigenous peoples and local communities who depend on forests for their livelihoods.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe so-called food and energy sovereignty President Prabowo Subianto envisions will remain empty rhetoric if it relies on massive deforestation. This plan would worsen the climate crisis, triggering cascading impacts across sectors. Converting 20 million hectares of forest for industrial use will increase carbon emissions, fuel fires, and produce hazardous haze, especially if carried out in peat landscapes. Ultimately, this will derail the government\u2019s climate commitments and efforts to safeguard biodiversity,\u201d said Iqbal Damanik, Forest Campaigner for Greenpeace Indonesia.<\/p>\n\n

Indonesia, as a signatory to the International Convention on Biological Diversity, has pledged to halt human-driven extinction by 2030, reduce extinction risks, and preserve genetic diversity to maintain species\u2019 adaptive potential. Meanwhile the country\u2019s enhanced Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Climate Agreement targets a 31.89%<\/a> reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 through domestic efforts, and 43.2% with international support. Forest and Land Use (FoLU) reforms are central to achieving these goals, particularly through reduced deforestation.<\/p>\n\n

\u00a9 Jurnasyanto Sukarno \/ Greenpeace<\/div>. \u00a9 Jurnasyanto Sukarno \/ Greenpeace” alt=”Theatrical Protest at the Food Estate in Central Kalimantan
\u00a9 Jurnasyanto Sukarno \/ Greenpeace<\/div>. \u00a9 Jurnasyanto Sukarno \/ Greenpeace” class=”wp-image-66740″\/>
Theatrical Protest at the Food Estate in Central Kalimantan
\u00a9 Jurnasyanto Sukarno \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Yet recent findings from the Global Carbon Project, published in the journal Earth System Science Data<\/em> in late 2023, reveal that global carbon dioxide emissions reached record highs last year. Indonesia ranked as the second-largest emitter<\/a> from land-use activities, despite the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warning of escalated climate risks facing Indonesia, such as droughts, heatwaves, floods, and storms.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe Minister of Forestry has yet to disclose where the 20 million hectares he says are earmarked for industrial conversion are located. Our analysis suggests this vast land requirement will inevitably trigger deforestation in Indonesia\u2019s natural forests. The government must implement a total deforestation ban if we want to avert climate disaster,\u201d said Sekar Banjaran Aji, Forest Campaigner for Greenpeace Indonesia.<\/p>\n\n

Alarmingly, Indonesia\u2019s new administration is on track to continue the deforestation trajectory of the previous government. Under then-President Joko Widodo, Indonesia allocated a deforestation quota of 10.43 million hectares from 2021 to 2030, as outlined in the Folu Net Sink 2030 Operational Plan. This deforestation, equivalent to nearly a quarter of Sumatra\u2019s land area, would release 10.1 gigatons of CO2.<\/p>\n\n

The Prabowo administration seems no different. The president\u2019s recent statement advocating palm oil expansion while dismissing deforestation concerns is a dangerous stance for Indonesia\u2019s forests. His remarks reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of forest ecosystems and the EU\u2019s deforestation-free market regulations. Prabowo\u2019s narrative of food and energy sovereignty is nothing more than empty rhetoric, as his administration\u2019s plans push Indonesia further away from these goals.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cHow can the public not assume that food estate programs are merely a pretext for expanding palm oil plantations? Instead of addressing the chaos in palm oil governance, Prabowo seems intent on perpetuating it. His stance on palm oil and deforestation spells disaster for Indigenous communities, like West Papua’s Awyu people, who are currently fighting to protect their customary forests from industrial plantation expansion,\u201d Sekar concluded.<\/p>\n\n

Media Contacts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Arie Rompas, Head of Forest Campaign, Greenpeace Indonesia, +62 811-5200-822<\/p>\n\n

Igor O\u2019Neill, Greenpeace Indonesia, ioneill@greenpeace.org, +61 414 288 424<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Indonesian govt plan to clear 20m ha of forest for industrial food and energy projects is a threat to Indonesia\u2019s climate and biodiversity commitments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":66740,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[99,116],"p4-page-type":[14],"class_list":["post-66739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-forests","tag-indonesia","tag-biodiversity","p4-page-type-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/southeastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/southeastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/southeastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/southeastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/southeastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66739"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/southeastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66739\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66742,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/southeastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66739\/revisions\/66742"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/southeastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/southeastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/southeastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/southeastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66739"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/southeastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=66739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}