PALMOILMAGAZINE, JAKARTA — Efforts to strengthen public understanding of Indonesia’s carbon market mechanism are gaining momentum. PT Penabulu Upacaya Semesta recently held a national webinar titled “Understanding the Carbon Market Ecosystem: Opportunities and Challenges for Indonesia”, serving as an educational platform and cross-sector dialogue on the future of the green economy and national climate policy.
In his presentation, Dr. I Wayan Susi Dharmawan, Principal Researcher at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), emphasized that Indonesia has entered a critical phase in establishing a credible and high-integrity carbon trading system.
Following the issuance of Presidential Regulation (Perpres) No. 110 of 2025 on the Implementation of the Carbon Economic Value (NEK) Instrument, the government is preparing a Carbon Unit Registry System (SRUK) — an independent, real-time digital platform designed to ensure transparency and prevent double counting in carbon transactions.
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“The crediting scheme is the easiest mechanism to implement because it’s widely understood by businesses and doesn’t require overly complex regulations,” Dr. Wayan explained in an official statement received by Palmoilmagazine.com, Sunday (October 19, 2025).
He added that the system creates vast opportunities across multiple sectors — including forestry, energy, and agriculture — to generate carbon credits that can be traded domestically and internationally.
Dr. Wayan also underscored the importance of data integrity, institutional readiness, and coordination between national and local governments. With potential reaching up to 70% of global carbon unit transactions, equivalent to IDR8,000 trillion, Indonesia could emerge as one of the world’s key carbon market players — provided that governance and oversight remain robust and the benefits reach local communities.
From Economic Potential to Climate Justice
Meanwhile, Dr. Dadan Mulyana, Senior Researcher in Forestry, highlighted that carbon trading should not be viewed solely through an economic lens but also as a tool to achieve climate justice and improve community welfare.
According to him, the carbon market within the Forestry and Other Land Use (FOLU) sector offers major opportunities, such as:
- Increasing community and forest managers’ income through carbon credits;
- Attracting green investment from private and global financial institutions;
- Promoting innovation in transparent and efficient emission-monitoring technologies; and
- Supporting national climate goals, including FOLU Net Sink 2030 and Net Zero Emission 2060 targets.
However, Dr. Dadan cautioned that several critical challenges must be addressed, including the USD 24.6 billion funding gap for the FOLU sector, weak regulatory oversight that could trigger carbon grabbing, and limited community capacity in understanding carbon market mechanisms.
Land tenure and indigenous land access also remain crucial issues that must be resolved to ensure that the system is inclusive and equitable.
Toward a Transparent and Inclusive Carbon Ecosystem
The interactive discussions during the webinar revealed strong public enthusiasm about the carbon market. Participants raised key questions on the differences between domestic and international carbon markets, the licensing process for projects in customary forests, and ways to ensure that carbon revenues benefit grassroots communities.
Through this event, Penabulu Upacaya Semesta reaffirmed its commitment as a climate learning hub — a collaborative platform that strengthens civil society participation, builds cross-sector capacity, and ensures Indonesia’s transition to a low-carbon economy remains transparent, accountable, and just. (P2)
