Indonesia terminates cooperation on emissions initiative with Norway

By Bisola Adeyemo

Indonesia has terminated the agreement with Norway on reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, due to a lack of concrete progress on the implementation of the obligation of the government.

Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry revealed this in a statement late on Friday.

According to the statement made available on Bloomberg, Norway had agreed to pay the Southeast Asian country up to $1 billion for cutting emissions from deforestation and forest degradation as part of the REDD+ initiative. The countries co-signed a letter of intent in 2010.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Indonesia had reduced emissions by 11.2 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq) during 2016-17, and cited lack of progress in receiving payment as a reason for terminating the agreement. Last year, Norway announced it would pay NOK 530 million ($61 million) for a reduction of approximately 4.8 million tons of CO2eq in 2016-17, once the numbers had been independently verified. The reimbursement was to be the Scandinavian country’s first under the scheme.

Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative said in a statement that formal notice of termination had been received and that the government had viewed talks as “constructive and progressing well, within the frameworks set by our two countries’ regulatory limits.”

Last year, Indonesia secured $103.8 million from the Green Climate Fund under the REDD+ initiative, after reducing emissions by 20.3 million tons of CO2eq between 2014 and 2016.

Indonesia says it remains committed to reducing emissions and notes it has made significant progress towards fulfilling its obligations under the Paris Agreement.