Jakarta, 17 September 2015 – The coalition of civil society organizations for the conservation of Indonesian forests and global climate has provided input on Indonesia’s INDC (Intended Nationally Determined Contributions) process. Sisilia Nurmala Dewi from HuMa, the coalition’s spokesperson, stated that the coalition’s input is based on the officially circulated draft.

According to Sisilia, many aspects in the draft INDC document to be submitted this month to the UNFCCC are still weak, unclear, and non-participatory. “The fact that emissions from deforestation are not decreasing, and are even tending to increase, does not encourage the Indonesian Government to enhance its emission reduction commitments, as reflected in the Draft INDC Document,” she explained. “The determination of a 29% emission reduction target by 2030 is not clear in its foundation. Meanwhile, development plans that emphasize greater exploitation of natural resources tend to increase emissions.”

Sisilia also emphasized, “We highly recommend that INDC incorporates Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART) elements to achieve verifiable emission reduction targets in the future.”

Moreover, this should also include credible activities that the government will undertake from now until 2020. “These activities will lay the foundation for long-term responsible development and the path towards zero emissions,” she continued.

The Executive Director of the Indonesian Forum for Environment (WALHI), Abetnego Tarigan, underscored, “The accompanying problem that ‘haunts’ the community in several regions in Indonesia is the haze that has been present for the past 15 years.”

Up to now, according to Abetnego, around 120,000 people in three provinces in Indonesia suffered from acute respiratory infections during the forest and land fires in 2014. “And in our view, it is the State’s obligation to ensure ZERO DEFORESTATION,” he stressed.

According to the coalition, the INDCs seem counterproductive in terms of emission reduction targets and development models, which still prioritize the use of dirty energy and deforestation/destruction of forest areas. How is it possible to reduce carbon emissions by 29% in 2030, if carbon emissions from coal combustion are actually projected to double, from 201 million tCO2 in 2015 to 383 million tCO2 in 2024? Not to mention the carbon emissions burned from oil and gas, both from power plants and motor vehicles.

According to the coalition, the government’s efforts to improve non-energy-intensive public transportation are still unclear. Meanwhile, forest areas designated for absorbing emissions are increasingly being destroyed, to be cleared for coal mining to meet the needs of coal-fired power plants, around 250 million tons per year.

Meanwhile, Forest Watch Indonesia (FWI) sees another aspect of natural resource management in Indonesia, as an archipelagic country, where the protection of small islands is being neglected. In the draft INDC plan, it is mentioned that ‘Indonesia as an archipelagic state, thus land-based and marine-based climate change adaptation as an integrated strategy to ensure food, water, and energy security’. The draft INDCs also state that ‘small islands are highly vulnerable areas to climate change impacts, such as floods, droughts, and sea-level rise’.

“This is because the vulnerability of small islands is greatly influenced by the natural forest ecosystem conditions on these small islands,” said the Director of Forest Watch Indonesia, Bob Purba. “Studies conducted by FWI indicate that out of a total of 7 million hectares of land on small islands, only 48% remain covered by natural forests.” According