Indonesia Receives First Payment for Reducing Emissions in East Kalimantan: World Bank

Jakarta: Indonesia has received an advance payment of US$20.9 million (IDR320 billion) under the Emissions Reduction Payment Agreement (ERPA) between the Government of Indonesia and the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) in East Kalimantan province. 
 
Under the Agreement, Indonesia would receive up to US$110 million (IDR1.6 trillion) for verified emissions from reducing deforestation and forest degradation.
 
"This program will help build confidence in the international and national systems of performance-based payments – a critical tool to incentivize climate change mitigation," said Satu Kahkonen, World Bank Country Director for Indonesia and Timor-Leste, in a media release on Tuesday. 
"We applaud Indonesia’s sustained reductions in deforestation rates over the past five years, and we hope to continue supporting the transition towards a green economy," Kahkonen added.
 
Indonesia has become the first country in the East Asia Pacific region to receive payments through the World Bank’s FCPF, which represents 13.5 percent of the value of the emissions reduction reported in the Government of Indonesia’s Monitoring Report for the 2019-2020 crediting period. 
 
The full payment will be released once the independent third-party verification of the reported emissions reductions, which is currently ongoing, is complete.