Indonesia launches agency to manage environment funds

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia launched an agency to manage funds for climate change management on Wednesday as part of its efforts to meet its climate goals.

“The objective is to have one pool for funds needed for environment recovery,” Ruandha Agung Sugardiman, director general of climate change at the Environment Ministry, told reporters.

The new agency is expected to start operation on Jan 1. 2020 and will have an initial fund of around 2 trillion rupiah ($141 million).

The funds will come from land reclamation payments and fines the government collects from environment criminal cases, as well as from donors.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati told reporters the agency could potentially raise up to 800 trillion rupiah ($56 billion) in environmental funds.

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“With the establishment of this agency, we hope that donor countries and institutions will be more confident in committing to provide environmental funds,” she said.

The government aim to prepare regulation that will allow the country to launch a carbon trading programme that the agency could manage, Sugardiman said, although it does not have timeline yet.

Funds from the agency will be distributed as grants or investment to restore environmental damage and educate communities to prevent further damage.

Indonesia aims to cut carbon emission by 29% by 2030 by its own efforts and 41% with international assistance.

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In 2017, the government said the country needs $64 billion between 2016 and 2020 for climate adaptation and an additional $17 billion for climate change mitigation efforts.

($1 = 14,175 rupiah)

(Reporting by Bernadette Christina Munthe; writing by Fransiska Nangoy; editing by Jason Neely)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.