Indonesia's Largest Carbon Emission Reduction Targets in the Forestry and Energy Sectors

The Indonesian government has submitted a new Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), now termed the Enhanced NDC, to the UNFCCC in September 2022.

NDCs are commitments by countries involved in the Paris Agreement to reduce carbon emissions and adapt to climate change. These commitments are generally updated every five years.

In its first NDC in 2016, Indonesia committed to reducing carbon emissions by 29% by 2030 with its own efforts, or 41% with international assistance.

The new Enhanced NDC strengthens this target to a 31.89% reduction with domestic efforts, or 43.2% with international assistance.

Indonesia's largest carbon emission reduction targets are in the forestry and other land uses (FOLU) sector.

Under a business-as-usual scenario, the FOLU sector is projected to produce 714 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTon CO2e) in 2030.

With the Enhanced NDC, FOLU emissions are targeted to decrease by 500 MTon CO2e from the business-as-usual projection, resulting in 214 MTon CO2e in 2030 with domestic efforts.

Alternatively, with international assistance, FOLU emissions are targeted to decrease by 729 MTon CO2e from the business-as-usual projection, resulting in -15 MTon CO2e in 2030. This negative figure indicates that the FOLU sector is targeted to absorb 15 MTon CO2e instead of emitting it.

The following details the amount of carbon emissions to be reduced in each sector based on the Enhanced NDC:

* FOLU: reduction of 500 MTon CO2e with domestic efforts, or a reduction of 729 MTon CO2e with international assistance
* Energy: reduction of 358 MTon CO2e with domestic efforts, or a reduction of 446 MTon CO2e with international assistance
* Waste: reduction of 40 MTon CO2e with domestic efforts, or a reduction of 43.5 MTon CO2e with international assistance
* Agriculture: reduction of 10 MTon CO2e with domestic efforts, or a reduction of 12 MTon CO2e with international assistance
* IPPU (industry and product use): reduction of 7 MTon CO2e with domestic efforts, or a reduction of 9 MTon CO2e with international assistance

The projected emission levels for Indonesia after the reduction process can be seen in the graph above.

"These commitments will be implemented through effective land and spatial planning, sustainable forest management, ecosystem restoration, increased agricultural productivity, energy conservation, promotion of renewable energy, and improved waste management," stated the Indonesian government in the Enhanced NDC document.