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The Indonesian Environmental Fund (IEF) is requesting a grant of USD 886,719 from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to prepare a full funding proposal for the Green Peatland Economy (GPE) project. The GPE project aims to transition Indonesia's peatlands from drainage-based, high-emission land use to zero-drainage, low-emission models that enhance community resilience and preserve ecosystems. The PPF will fund nine key activities over 13 months, including feasibility studies, gender and social inclusion analyses, market assessments for 'peatland-friendly' commodities, and the development of sustainable financial instruments. The project focuses on five Peatland Hydrological Units (PHUs) across Riau, Central Kalimantan, and South Sumatra provinces.

The document examines the challenges of Indonesia's transition away from coal, highlighting the severe economic risks to coal-dependent provinces and vulnerable groups. It advocates for a mixed-method approach to planning that combines quantitative economic modelling with qualitative social analysis to ensure that women, youth, and informal workers are not marginalized. Key recommendations include strategic investment in labour-intensive green sectors, tailored social protection, and the empowerment of local governments to manage the transition.

The report analyzes the potential economic shocks of phasing out coal in Indonesia, identifying East Kalimantan as the most vulnerable province. Using a mixed-methods approach, it demonstrates that while mine closures cause significant losses in output and employment, targeted stimulus in the food and beverage and green sectors can drive recovery. The study emphasizes the disproportionate impact on informal workers and women, recommending a transition roadmap that integrates gender equality, disability, and social inclusion (GEDSI) principles and expands social safety nets.

The document identifies critical areas for the conservation and restoration of ecosystems to mitigate climate risks such as flooding, landslides, and coastal storms in Indonesia. It evaluates three scenarios: unconstrained conservation, infrastructure-impact conservation, and restoration. The analysis reveals that a small percentage of land area provides disproportionately high benefits for millions of people and significant portions of the national road network. Most of these priority areas lie outside existing protected networks, suggesting a need for new regulatory approaches. The brief recommends integrating these findings into national development plans (RPJMN, RPJPN), spatial planning (RTRW), and the 2020-2040 Road Network General Plan, while calling for capacity building and the integration of NbS data into national mapping platforms.

The report argues that Indonesia's biomass co-firing program primarily benefits large conglomerates and politically connected elites rather than promoting a just energy transition. It highlights how companies affiliated with groups like Sinarmas, Korindo, and Medco dominate energy plantation forest (HTE) concessions, often through opaque ownership structures or 'shadow companies'. The document details instances of deforestation, land conflicts with indigenous peoples (notably in Papua and NTB), and the persistence of 'carbon debts' resulting from the conversion of natural forests to HTE. Furthermore, it notes that some biomass suppliers are also coal traders, and that the actual biomass used in PLTUs often consists of unregulated sawdust rather than the planned wood pellets, undermining the program's environmental claims.

The report identifies a gap between Indonesia's international climate pledges and its domestic energy policies, which continue to favor coal. It highlights a governance model characterized by sectoral silos, informal decision-making influenced by politically exposed persons (PEPs) from the coal sector, and significant financing shortfalls for renewable energy.

The report argues that Indonesia's biomass co-firing policy, led by PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), threatens natural forests. To achieve 10% co-firing across 107 coal power plants, Trend Asia estimates a need for at least 2.33 million hectares of energy wood plantations. Based on historical data showing 38% of industrial timber plantations were established via deforestation, the report warns that this policy could increase annual deforestation rates from 630 thousand to 2.1 million hectares. It further highlights contradictions between the government's Enhanced NDC emission targets and its increasing deforestation quotas, while noting that biomass burning creates a 'carbon debt' rather than being carbon neutral.

Trend Asia challenges PT PLN's claim that biomass co-firing facilitates an energy transition and reduces emissions. The report argues that the massive land requirements for energy plantation forests (HTE) to supply wood pellets would lead to significant deforestation, resulting in net carbon emissions rather than reductions. It finds that biomass has become a complement to, rather than a substitute for, coal, with total coal consumption continuing to rise.

The report evaluates the economic viability of restoring peatlands in Central Kalimantan and mangroves in Belitung, Indonesia. It argues that land rehabilitation is most effective when implemented as a package of interventions—such as combining canal blocking, land-use monitoring, and fire suppression for peatlands, or pairing mangrove planting with ecotourism—rather than as isolated measures. For peatlands, the highest societal net benefit (USD 4.136 billion by 2100) is achieved through a combined approach, primarily driven by avoided carbon emissions and fire damages. For mangroves, rehabilitation is deemed economically viable only when linked to additional revenue streams like ecotourism, which provides sustainable livelihoods and prevents land conversion for tin mining. The analysis emphasizes that local community income is critical for long-term success, as without alternative revenue (e.g., carbon payments or tourism), communities may return to environmentally damaging activities.

The report evaluates two alternative income streams for oil palm smallholders in Central Kalimantan to mitigate risks from climate change and market volatility. Beef cattle farming, utilizing oil palm leaf waste for feed, is found to be highly profitable with a potential net profit of IDR 2 million per month, though it requires significant upfront capital. Fish cultivation, specifically tilapia and silver catfish, offers a lower-investment alternative, with tilapia providing a potential annual net profit of IDR 7.4 million. Both options are deemed feasible and scalable to help diversify rural incomes and support a green growth strategy in the region.

The document examines the 'jurisdictional approach' (JA)—a comprehensive, government-led strategy for forest and land-use governance across defined political territories. It argues that subnational jurisdictions (states, provinces, districts) are critical for scaling emissions reductions because they are closer to land users and possess the authority to shape land-use decisions. Through case studies in Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Peru, and Mexico, the paper highlights that while JA fosters multi-stakeholder collaboration and policy innovation, it is frequently hampered by political turnover, limited public sector capacity, and a lack of tangible financial incentives. The authors conclude that JA is not a 'silver bullet' but a necessary recognition of the role of multi-level government in protecting forests and enhancing livelihoods.

The report analyzes the governance and utilization of Indonesia's Village Fund, finding that while the fund has grown significantly and is a major revenue source for villages, it is predominantly spent on transportation infrastructure. The authors identify five key challenges—including a lack of technical capacity, misaligned planning between village and district levels, and insufficient regulatory guidelines—that hinder the fund's potential to support environmental conservation and sustainable land use. To address these, the report recommends integrating village priorities into district planning, empowering the Village and Community Empowerment Office, creating specific sustainability guidelines, adopting a 'negative-list' for spending, and introducing a sustainability variable into the fund's allocation formula.

This working paper by the Climate Policy Initiative, supported by PILAR and UNPAR, proposes a framework for district-level natural capital assessment in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. It argues that current land valuations underestimate the true value of ecosystem services and are hindered by inconsistent government regulations and data gaps. The paper recommends a pilot assessment in Kotawaringin Timur due to its high concentration of palm oil infrastructure and critical high conservation value areas.

The assessment finds that over half of Central Kalimantan consists of high conservation value (HCV) areas, with nearly two-thirds of these areas threatened by planned development. The report details the distribution of biodiversity-critical areas, large natural landscapes, ecosystem transition zones, and rare or endangered ecosystems across various districts to support their integration into regional policy and business licensing.

The paper argues that current land valuation in Indonesia fails to account for critical ecosystem services such as carbon stocks and water provision, leading to suboptimal land-use decisions. It proposes a new valuation approach combining GIS, participatory methods, and expert opinion to align conflicting government regulations. The authors specifically highlight Kotawaringin Timur as a priority area for this approach due to its high deforestation rates, significant concentration of palm oil mills, and the presence of 27,502 hectares of high conservation value areas that are currently under-protected.

The study identifies that over half of Central Kalimantan's land area consists of High Conservation Value (HCV) zones, with approximately 61.6% of these areas currently threatened by planned development. The analysis focuses on five specific HCV categories—protected areas, large natural landscapes, transition ecosystems, rare/endangered ecosystems, and specific environmental services—to provide a scientific basis for the province's spatial planning and sustainable development goals.

The paper argues that land in Indonesia is systematically undervalued because current assessments fail to comprehensively account for ecosystem services and lack integration with spatial planning and licensing processes. To address this, the authors propose a district-level natural capital assessment pilot, specifically recommending Kotawaringin Timur due to its high concentration of high conservation value areas under plantation status and its potential for low-emission oil palm productivity gains. The proposed methodology integrates Ministry of Environment and Forestry Regulation No. 15/2012 and Ministry of Finance Regulation No. 98/PMK.06/2010, utilizing a combination of GIS, inventories, participatory approaches, and expert judgment to inform a 'Production and Protection' approach to land management.

The assessment finds that 60% of Central Kalimantan's land area contains High Conservation Value (HCV) areas, with 62% of these areas threatened by development. The report identifies critical hotspots in five districts and highlights logging and spatial planning as primary drivers of forest loss, which declined by 32% between 1973 and 2012.

The 2016 Palm Oil Buyers Scorecard evaluates corporate adoption of RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO). While many companies have joined the RSPO and increased CSPO use, a significant gap remains between high-level commitments and the use of physically segregated supply chains. The report highlights that while 77 companies committed to 100% CSPO by 2015, only 56 achieved this. It emphasizes the need for companies to move beyond 'book and claim' certificates toward segregated sourcing to effectively eliminate deforestation and habitat loss in producer regions like Indonesia and Malaysia.

The report finds that Indonesia's current tax system does not incentivize sustainable land use in the palm oil industry, characterized by low tax-to-GDP ratios and minimal revenue redistribution to local governments. It proposes six fiscal reforms, including increasing land taxes and tying revenue sharing to sustainability indicators, to reduce deforestation and improve land productivity.