Indonesia's first carbon exchange, the Indonesia Carbon Exchange (IDXCarbon), launched on September 26, 2023, under the supervision of the Financial Services Authority (OJK).
In the first half of 2024, IDXCarbon traded 114,486 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) units, with a total transaction value of Rp5.88 billion.
These traded carbon units represent the achievements of participating companies in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
However, the Indonesian carbon exchange's transaction trend has been unstable. Transactions were nil in February and very low in April and June over the past six months, as shown in the graph.
This low transaction volume was also mentioned by Bobby Wahyu Hernawan, Head of the Climate Change and Multilateral Financing Policy Center at the Fiscal Policy Agency (BKF), who stated that carbon transactions in Indonesia remain minimal.
Bobby believes this low transaction volume is due to a lack of understanding regarding the economic value of carbon.
"The question returns to supply and demand; how are parties aware that there is an economic value of carbon that can be monetized, that can be traded?" said Bobby, as quoted by CNBC Indonesia (29/5/2024).
Increasing carbon exchange transactions is a challenge for the government and relevant stakeholders to help reduce national greenhouse gas emissions.