Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya received a working visit from the United States’ Congressional Delegation in Jakarta, (11/04/2023l. During their three-day visit to Indonesia (11 – 13 April 2023) they are scheduled to visit several locations in Jakarta and East Kalimantan with the main agenda discussing climate issues and biodiversity management, especially primates/orangutans.
The US Congressional delegation consisting of Senator Jeff Merkley, Senator Chris Van Hollen, Representative Lloyd Doggett, Representative Pramila Jayapal, and Representative Ilhan Omar and the staff admitted that they were amazed by Indonesia’s commitment to tackling climate change, they also praised Indonesia’s success in holding the G20 Presidency in 2018. last year and also as chairman of ASEAN this year.
Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya revealed that Indonesia’s strong commitment to tackle climate change was realized by strengthening the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) from the first NDC in 2016 to the Updated NDC in 2021 and to Enhanced-NDC (E-NDC) in September 2022, with conditions for increasing commitment reducing emissions from those listed in the NDC to E-NDC, namely from 29% to 31.89% with national capabilities (own) and from 41% to 43.2% (with the support of international cooperation).
“The increase in our NDC target is based on progress on the latest national policies related to climate change, including FOLU Net-sink Indonesia 2030, accelerated use of electric vehicles, B40 policy, increased action in the waste management sector, as well as increased targets for the industrial and agricultural sectors,” said the Minister Siti.
Minister Siti further explained that Indonesia’s emission reduction targets in the E-NDC are presented for sectors which include: Forestry and Other Land Use (FOLU) and Agriculture for land-related sectors; and Energy, Waste and Industry for sectors not related to land. The FOLU sector itself is targeted to contribute almost 60% of the total national emissions reduction target.
He also explained that rehabilitation of critical land, including peatlands and mangrove restoration, is Indonesia’s priority to control carbon emissions. In the energy sector, Indonesia encourages the development of the use of renewable energy, such as geothermal, hydro power and solar panels as alternative energy sources. The government is also promoting electric vehicles and waste-to-energy as an effort to manage waste more efficiently.
Senator Jeff Merkley as chairman of the US Congressional Delegation said they wanted to learn from the initiatives taken by the Indonesian government in dealing with environmental problems, such as pollution and plastic waste management.
The US Congressional Delegation wants to build a strong cooperative relationship with the Indonesian government, especially the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. The US Congressional Delegation also supports Indonesia in collaborating with Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo as the three countries with the largest tropical forests in the world so that they can collaborate to realize sustainable forest management to support climate change control.
Minister Siti hopes that this meeting can be the start of good cooperation between the Indonesian government and the US Congress in addressing global environmental issues.
Present at this meeting accompanied the Minister of LHK, namely the Deputy Minister of LHK, Head of BRGM, Director General of PPI, Director General of PHL, Director General of PDASRH, Plt. Director General of PKTL, TAM, Director of IPSDH, Director of KKHSG, Head of KLN Bureau, and Head of Public Relations Bureau
Source : PPID
