On Monday, Norway’s Environment Minister called for the US, Japan, and the EU to open their pocket books to support Indonesia’s drive to stop deforestation, according to Reuters. Norway has pledged $1 billion to Indonesia in an effort to stop rampant deforestation mostly due to industrial logging and the establishment of commercial plantations for palm oil and paper production.
“Indonesia needs quite substantially more [funds] to be able to conserve and sustainably manage its forests. The United States should come in, Japan, other European nations could come into this scheme to make it robust enough,” Norway’s Environment Minister, Erik Solheim, told Reuters in an interview. Norway has already paid out $30 million from its pledge to jump start pilot REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) projects in Indonesia.
As apart of its agreement with Norway, Indonesia has set a two year moratorium on giving out new concessions to clear natural forests beginning in 2011. However, old permits will still be valid and, hence, forest clearing will continue to some extent.
Indonesia is the world’s third largest greenhouse gas emitter after China and the US. Eighty percent of Indonesia’s emissions come from clearing and degrading forests as well as draining carbon-rich peatland. Indonesia has pledged to cut 41% of its emissions from a projected baseline by 2020, if it receives international aid to do so.
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