The Fiscal Policy Agency (FPA), Ministry of Finance, as Indonesia’s National Designated Authority for the Green Climate Fund (GCF – NDA) conducted a workshop on 28 – 29 November 2018 in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, to raise awareness among local stakeholders on the funding opportunities from GCF.

Facilitated by the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the workshop first began with a full-day seminar and then a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) in the following day. In the workshop, the discussion listed existing and pipeline projects related to climate change mitigation and adaptation that could potentially receive funding from GCF. The event was attended by representatives from the local government, private sectors, NGOs, IGOs, financial institutions and academics from a local university.

East Kalimantan was chosen as the first location to conduct the workshop in a series of planned roadshows because the province has demonstrated advanced green development planning and has expressed a solid commitment to green growth through a government-initiated program, called “Kaltim Green”. The ambitious program spells out the province’s priorities in support of the national commitment to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, integrate the REDD+ program into their midterm development plan, and declare the urgency for sustainable plantation development. This shows that East Kalimantan is one of the many provinces in Indonesia championing green development.

Officially opening the workshop, the Deputy Director of the Center for Climate Finance and Multilateral Policy of FPA, Dudi Rulliadi, and the Assistant III of Administration from the Provincial Secretariat of East Kalimantan, Bere Ali, both emphasized the importance of channeling climate finance opportunities. Mr. Ali also added that there is a need to reform the local government mindset about climate-related development funding, and that the province can benefit from additional sources of funding from international institutions such as GCF. “Land based and energy sectors in East Kalimantan have existing projects as well as those in the pipeline that could be further developed into GCF proposals,” he confidently concluded.

The workshop also featured many other expert speakers from various institutions such as, Joko Tri Haryanto who is a researcher at the FPA, Daddy Ruhiyat, the Chairman of the Provincial Climate Change Council (DDPI) of East Kalimantan and Dessi Yuliana, the GCF and Investment Specialist of GGGI Indonesia. Moderating the sessions was Soeyitno Soedirman, the Head of Pollution Control of the East Kalimantan Environment Agency. The closing remarks were then delivered by the Head of Economic Affairs from East Kalimantan Regional Development Agency (BAPPEDA) who emphasized that all attendees should make the most of the financing opportunity provided by GCF.

High enthusiasm was remarkably noted throughout the workshop for the GCF funding scheme which is relatively new for the stakeholders in East Kalimantan. To further promote this enthusiasm, a follow-up workshop is in the works to be conducted in the upcoming months. The follow-up workshop is expected to monitor the progress of existing prioritized projects that have been listed in the FGD. The results of the FGD will also be used to provide guidance for potential project owners on how to design and propose climate related projects/programs to the GCF.