Indonesia Leads The World On Tackling Climate Change

Name : Raihan Zhafar

NIM : 16621392
In “Indonesia Leads the World On Reducing Deforestation,” Robert Blake
explains that Indonesia has historically been a major contributor to climate change
due to its high rate of deforestation and its continued dependence on fossil fuels.
However, Indonesia has demonstrated its commitment to reducing emissions.
Several data have proven that Indonesia is serious in dealing with the climate crisis,
such as the declining rate of deforestation in the last two decades, forest and
peatland fires which have also decreased and increased rehabilitation and
reforestation of forests and peatlands. This achievement is thanks to the policies
and implementation of the law in the government of President Jokowi. Indonesia
also has ambitious emission targets for reducing emissions from the land-use sector
and is one of the first countries in the world to have comprehensive low-carbon
development or LCDI. New initiatives underway will help accelerate Indonesia's
global leadership in reducing deforestation and emissions. Indonesia's success in
attracting international climate finance also is expected to become a model for other
countries to follow.
Blake argues that Indonesia is a major contributor to climate change because
of its high rate of deforestation and its continued dependence on fossil fuels. In
terms of climate change, climate change is a striking change in weather that occurs
between two certain periods of an area, or simply an abnormal weather shift in an
area within a certain period. One of the factors causing climate change is the effect
of greenhouse gases and the destruction of forest functions (Nurhanisah, 2019).
According to data from the World Resources Institute, the three major contributors
to greenhouse gas emissions include China which contributed 26.1 percent, the
United States which contributed 12.67 percent, and the European Union contributed
7.52 percent, while Indonesia contributed 2.03 percent. As for the rate of
deforestation, Brazil is in the first place based on data from Global Forest Watch
with the largest rate of reduction of primary forest in the world in 2020, which is
1.7 million ha. Thus, the statement is not correct if only Indonesia is said to be the
main contributor to climate change. According to the Dutch Environmental, Nature
and Space Research Institute (PBL), the country’s most responsible for climate
change are industrialized countries such as China and the United States.
However, this statement is not entirely wrong, because Indonesia is still very
dependent on fossil fuels such as coal. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral
Resources (ESDM) noted that fossil energy is still the main contributor to electricity
generation in Indonesia. The contribution of fossil energy from all Indonesian
power plants reaches 60,485 MW equivalent to 85.31 percent of the total national
installed capacity. Coupled with the deforestation rate that persists due to the new
land acquisition sector for Real Food Estate and Oil Palm Plantations, not to
mention forest and land fires. Although according to President Joko Widodo's
speech at the COP26 Conference in Glasgow, he stated that the rate of deforestation
fell significantly, the lowest in the last 20 years. However, based on data from
Greenpeace Indonesia, deforestation in Indonesia increased from the previous 2.45
million ha (2003-2011) to 4.8 million ha (2011-2019).
Blake also said that Indonesia's achievements in combating climate change
were due to the policies and implementation of laws in President Jokowi's
administration. However, according to walhi.or.id, the government's recent policies
seem to be still willing to grant permits to corporations with various other policies.
Instead of overcoming the climate crisis, the government provides facilities to
corporations through policies such as the land swap policy issued through the
Regulation of the Minister of Environment and Forestry of the Republic of
Indonesia Number 40/MENLHK/SETJEN/KUM. 1/6/2017 concerning
Government Facilitation in Industrial Plantation Forest Businesses in the Context
of Protection and Management of Peat Ecosystems. In addition, quoted from
sebijak.fkt.ugm.ac.id in the Job Creation Law, which facilitates licensing of the use
of forest environmental areas that have the potential to increase deforestation. In-
Law no. 41/1999 concerning Forestry, all types of permits for the use of forest areas
are listed in full which consist of 8 points of types of permits divided according to
the function and designation of the forest. Meanwhile, in the Job Creation Law, the
licensing mechanism is simplified to only one type, namely in the form of a business
license. The impact of this law is the revocation of articles 27-29 of Law no.
41/1999, so that intervention in forest areas through this business licensing scheme
will be more massive and the domino effect will make it easier for any party,
especially those with capital and power to apply for business permits in forest areas.
The ease of granting permits without considering the ecological aspect is very risky
for the environmental impacts that will be caused in the future. According to
sebijak.fkt.ugm.ac.id, the Job Creation Law will also cause other adverse impacts
related to the environment and forestry, such as the use of forests being increasingly
unprotected, the loss of AMDAL as the final door for saving forests, and making it
easier to change the allocation and function of the area. forests and use of forest
areas. Not only policies but there are also several implementations of laws that are
not in line with the previously applicable laws, such as in the incident of the arrest
of the head of the Adat Kinipan, which is considered by environmental activists as
a form of state legalization for robbery on customary land in the era of President
Jokowi.
There are still many shortcomings in Indonesia that need to be corrected to
strengthen the country's commitment to addressing climate change. Indonesia can
form a commitment to reduce the use of fossil fuels and switch to renewable fuels,
increase zero-deforestation efforts for the preservation of nature and national wealth,
create policies that benefit the environment and indigenous peoples, and increase
innovation in leading the world in tackling climate change. Thus, Indonesia can
fully become a complete model for other countries as the world's leading natural
capital superpower.

Sorce of the article:

https://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2021/04/02/indonesia-leads-the-world-
on-reducing-deforestation.html
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