BIOMASS HUB

The Global Legal Monitor reports that Indonesia and Norway have established a partnership through which Norway will grant the equivalent of US$1 billion in aid to Indonesia for forest preservation and climate control.

Indonesia had said in 2009 that it would pledge to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at least 26 percent by the year 2020 and up to 40 percent with international help.  Indonesia’s Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta stated in advance of the conclusion of the pact:

If we get the funding from Norway, we will channel it for activities on peatland areas, considering that these areas have a bigger impact [in the release of more carbon dioxide].

The agreement between the countries was announced during the Oslo Climate and Forest Conference, held in Norway on May 26-27, 2010.  Since trees absorb carbon dioxide, deforestation results in over 83 percent of Indonesia’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

The aid will be given over the next few years and will be funding efforts to build and institutionalize the capacity to monitor, report, and verify reduced emissions, as well as establishing reformed policies. New concessions to permit converting forests and peat lands for agricultural use will be suspended for two years.

More on the Indonesia-Norway partnership for forest preservation and climate control.