Supporting the Government of Indonesia (GoI) under the leadership of the Ministry of National Development Planning (Bappenas) as well as the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF), GGGI Indonesia was actively involved to showcase Indonesia and champion the country’s commitments and agenda in the 24^th Session of the Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Katowice, Poland.

Held at the Indonesia Pavilion, Bappenas hosted a high-level panel discussion on 10 December 2018, highlighting ambitious national and international commitments to take the archipelagic nation beyond climate actions and emission reduction in its upcoming development plan, playing a leading role among middle-income countries in the path towards low carbon development and green economy.

“The Government of Indonesia is fully committed to integrating tangible climate actions in the shape of low carbon development path into the country’s National Medium-Term Development Plan 2020-2024 by mainstreaming the principles and approaches of low carbon development and green economy in it,” said Indonesia’s Minister of National Development Planning H.E. Bambang P.S. Brodjonegoro in his opening remarks. “Furthermore, the government is also committed in developed a blended financing scheme and issued green bonds this year, Indonesia is heading toward energy transition in regard to low carbon energy solutions and systems,” he added.

The panel discussion also featured prominent public figures, including the Director General of GGGI Frank Rijsberman, the State Secretary of the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment Sveinung Rotevatn, Director General of New, Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Indonesia Rida Mulyana, and Energy Economist at the European investment Bank David Kerins. The closing remarks delivered by Deputy Minister for Maritime Affairs and Natural Resources, Ministry of National Development Planning, Republic of Indonesia Arifin Rudiyanto concluded that there are no trade-offs between sustainability and development.

In the same week, MoEF also hosted two high-level panel sessions—one on 12 December 2018 discussing financial solutions for NDC implementation and another session on 14 December 2018 drawing upon experiences of REDD+ implementation in East Kalimantan, Indonesia.

The first session was officially opened by MoEF’s Director General for Climate Change Dr. Ruandha Agung Sugardiman who also moderated the panel discussion, featuring prominent speakers from Global Green Growth Institute, the Rwanda Green Fund (FONERWA), and the Green Climate Fund (GCF). The session showcased key milestones of various global efforts already underway to review, analyze and identify a pipeline of green bankable projects, and successfully highlighted serious commitments of the Indonesian government to promote a more sustainable approach and finding the right combination of financial products to finance NDC implementation.

MoEF’s second session particularly highlighted lessons learned from the preparation of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF)-Carbon Fund Program in the Indonesian province of East Kalimantan, featuring MoEF’s Director General for Climate Change Dr. Ruandha Agung Sugardiman and the Head of Forestry and Environmental Research Department and Innovation Agency (FOERDIA) Dr. Agus Justianto, as well as representatives from the World Bank’s FCPF Program, the Provincial Government of East Kalimantan–Indonesia, the National Forest Corporation (CONAF)–Chile, and the Vietnam Administration of Forestry–Vietnam. Officially opening the session was the Senior Advisor to the Minister of Environment and Forestry on Climate Change and International Conventions Dr. Nur Masripatin who confirmed that Indonesia REDD+ is progressing in both technical and policy fronts. Most importantly, with GGGI support, the governor has also supported the integration of emission reduction program into the province’s Medium-Term Development Plan and has allocated a portion of its state budget for REDD+ related activities.

Closing the week, Indonesia successfully highlighted its crucially important position in ensuring the global climate and the sustainability of the planet. Indonesia can’t solve climate change on its own as it has a lot of other domestic concerns. But the world can’t stop climate change without Indonesia. Global financial institutions, including banks, funders, and foreign governments need to play a greater role to shift their investments into projects that ensure a cleaner and more sustainable future.