Thammasat University students interested in ASEAN studies, Indonesia, ecology, climate change, economics, sociology, political science, and related subjects may find it useful to participate in a free 28 March Zoom webinar on Indonesia’s Role in Global Climate Action.

The event, on Thursday, 28 March 2024 at 1pm Bangkok time, is presented by ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore.

The TU Library collection includes several books about global climate action.

As explained on the event website,

Indonesia, the fourth world’s most populous country, is the world’s fifth largest emitting country. In recent years, it has begun to ramp up its climate ambition, with several notable commitments, including the target of net zero emissions by 2060. Indonesia also aims for an emissions reduction of 29% by 2030 using domestic resources, which can be increased to 41% reduction if given sufficient international support. The country faces considerable challenges in attaining high-income status while pursuing various strategies to achieve its climate targets in a socially equitable way. Doing so will require innovative policies and solutions across multiple government sectors and industries, especially energy and manufacturing, forestry and land use. It also calls for close collaboration between Indonesia, developed country partners and the private sector to build reliable and credible flows of finance, technology and expertise at the scale needed for an economy-wide green transformation.

In this seminar, Masyita Crystallin Ph.D, Special Advisor to the Minister of Finance Republic of Indonesia on Macroeconomic and Fiscal Policy, will share insights into how Indonesia plans to balance economic and welfare priorities while strengthening its leadership in global climate governance.

Students are invited to register at this link:

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/2917104025925/WN_q_gvq2o8ShiHG2NtJyXv2g#/registration

Last year, Dr. Crystallin coauthored a blog on the website of the World Bank that stated in part:

Towards a coalition for capacity on climate action for finance ministries

In 2022 alone, exceptional floods in Pakistan, heat waves in South Asia, an unprecedented winter drought in Europe and the impact of increasingly regular extreme weather events on small island states around the world have brought the potential impact of climate change on human lives into sharp focus.  The effects of climate change are overlapping with an unprecedented series of interlinked crises in the form of rising debt, challenges in recovering from COVID-19, food price inflation and geoeconomic fragmentation. This calls for a revamping of the way we plan economic, energy and environmental policies, putting climate action at the core of policy strategies.

To implement the Paris Agreement, countries are developing Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Long Term Strategies to which offer a vision of emission reduction pathways with different time horizons. Quite often, the ministry of environment is responsible for these plans and their regular updates, although not necessarily with a close coordination with finance ministries. As finance ministries oversee revenues and expenditures of all government departments, they shape through these decisions the concrete feasibility of any long-term strategy or investment plan.  They are managing the inevitable resulting trade-offs without necessarily having the full analytical capability at hand.

Finance ministers are well aware of climate change, its impacts, and of mitigation and adaptation solutions. The Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action, initially created in 2018 with 39 countries, now regularly assembles more than 80 finance ministers on climate-related topics. The current Coalition  represents more than 66 percent of global GDP and 40 percent of global carbon emissions.  It offers a global vector of coordination of finance ministries on climate action, both in terms of domestic enhancement of capabilities, and international support for action.

However, the knowledge of finance ministries on climate matters remains unevenly disseminated across countries and within each finance ministry. And it is not always well coordinated with line ministries such as ministries of environment, transport, or planning. When asked about climate change impacts and policies, finance ministers tell us that they have patchy and inadequate access to tools and analytical capabilities for the quantitative assessment of climate risks or the opportunities in addressing climate change mitigation and adaptation.  In addition to this, they mention peer learning between finance ministries as an essential enabler of raising ambition and action.

A new Coalition for Capacity on Climate Action (C3A) convenes finance ministries and their ecosystem to provide integrated and common solutions for implementing climate-aligned development strategies. The program aims at filling gaps in knowledge and dissemination, in close coordination between the World Bank and the Coalition of Finance Ministers. What sets the C3A program apart is that it is a demand-driven initiative.  As country specific socio-economic conditions differ, the program will pay particular attention to an initial needs assessment that will be conducted as part of the key activities. Regional and thematic hubs play an essential role in connecting specific capacity-building needs to a wide range of knowledge providers across regions. This approach of C3A will not only build capacity to better equip finance ministries to tackle the problems at hand. By bringing together diverse perspectives, leveraging local knowledge, promoting ownership, C3A will contribute to the long-term sustainability and effectiveness of policy making. […]

On her personal website, Dr. Crystallin has posted information about Expanding Indonesia’s Carbon Market: Opportunities for Economic Growth and Sustainability:

The carbon exchange was first launched in Indonesia in 2023. Seven months since the launch of the first carbon exchange in Indonesia, the topic of the carbon market is still a hot topic for discussion. On Tuesday, March 19 2024, Masyita had the opportunity to attend the Expanding Indonesia’s Carbon Market: Opportunities for Economic Growth and Sustainability activity in the Cikini area, DKI Jakarta. This activity, held by the Indonesia Business Council, brings a variety of perspectives into The Hermitage, Jakarta.

Masyita sat in the panelist chair along with Laksmi Dwanti (Director General of Climate Change Control, KLHK), Lufaldy Ernanda (Director of Digital Asset Supervision of the Financial Services Authority), and Agus Sandy Widyanto (Chief Strategy Officer of Star Energy Geothermal) in a discussion session led by Rike Amru . The afternoon discussion began with a keynote speech by Sofyan Djalil (CEO of the Indonesia Business Council).

Carbon Market in Indonesia

As an instrument for the economic value of carbon, the Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) complements other instruments, namely the carbon tax and the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) in Indonesia. Following countries that have previously implemented carbon markets, Indonesia also sees the carbon market as an effective instrument for reducing carbon emissions.

Currently, the carbon exchange in Indonesia is still dominated by the energy sector, namely the electricity generation subsector. However, in the future, the carbon exchange will also be filled by other sectors such as forestry, agriculture, waste, oil and gas, and marine. The good news is that international trading for carbon from the forestry sector is in the preparation stage.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)