Low Carbon Development Initiative

Indonesia has acknowledged the importance of sustainable growth and has established a range of strategies and plans to achieve low carbon and green growth objectives. This includes submitting its Enhanced Nationally Determined Contribution to the UNFCCC, setting a target of net zero emissions by 2060 or sooner, and mainstreaming the low carbon development framework into the National Medium-Term Development Plan. 

To further solidify the government’s commitment, the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office of the UK Government (FCDO) in collaboration with the Development and Planning Ministry (Bappenas) have developed a partnership agreement in the Low Carbon Development Initiative (LCDI). Currently, the programme has entered a new phase of assistance from 2023 to 2027, and we have been contracted to manage and deliver the LCDI programme.

This new phase of the programme aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through reduced emissions intensity. The programme will deliver transformative change in three key areas below:

• Low-carbon development will be embedded into national and regional planning and budgeting;
• Strong cross-sectoral policies and regulations will support low-carbon efforts;
• Climate finance will be mobilised for greater impact.

The programme has four workstreams: 

1. Partnership with national line ministries;
2. Partnership with key sub-national governments including North Sumatera, Maluku, Riau, etc;
3. Stakeholder engagement to raise awareness and ambition; and
4. an Innovation and Technology Fund. 
    

Gender equality and social inclusion are mainstreamed in every workstream of the programme. 

For the implementation stage, we lead a consortium of organisations to deliver the programme, including Carbon Trust, Dala Institute, Indonesia Business Council for Sustainable Development, Local Government for Sustainability Indonesia, Institute for Development of Economics and Finance, International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development, and the Prakarsa. 

Challenges

The Government of Indonesia has reaffirmed its commitment to enhance its climate ambitions by integrating  climate actions into its policies and regulations. This includes designing low carbon development as a priority programme in the National Medium Term Development Plan 2020-2024 and the National Long Term Development Plan 2025-2045. The medium ambition scenario from the LCDI Phase 1 Report was also mainstreamed into the National Medium Term Development Plan 2020-2024.

However, in light of accelerating the pace of climate change, the government recognises that adopting a medium ambition scenario is no longer sufficient for the next 2025-2029 Medium Term Plan. Moreover, despite the government’s commitment to incorporating low carbon development into development plans, significant challenges remain in institutionalising LCDI within government operations of and converting the planned scenarios into tangible outcomes.

To address these challenges, the new phase of the LCDI programme provides comprehensive assistance to support the government’s low-carbon goals at both national and sub-national level. This includes building political support for low-carbon development, raising awareness and understanding of LCDI approach among government officials responsible for implementation, supporting the implementation of the LCDI approach, and increasing ambition to align with the highest levels set out in the LCDI report.

Expertise

We provide a comprehensive and flexible approach to deliver the programme objectives. Our key strategies include provision of technical assistance, in-depth studies and assessments, targeted capacity building, and complemented by strong stakeholder engagement as to foster collaboration and align low carbon development goals.

For the advancement of Indonesia’s low-carbon development goals, particularly at the national level, we provide technical assistance, assessment and studies through our modellers and key experts to provide significant contributions to integrate LCD into national plans. This includes updating the national systems dynamics model of LCD, review and develop road map for the AKSARA LCD Reporting Platform, assessment of LCD financing opportunities and barriers, development of roadmap on Green Economy, and many others.

For the sub-national level, our key activities include the development of the LCDI action plan for each pilot province, and conducting an assessment of LCD integration into the budgeting process. We also engage closely with the key stakeholders to mainstream low carbon development. This includes engagement with national and provincial parliaments, assessments to advance policy and incentives for LCD investment across sectors, conducting national dialogue on the acceleration of net zero emissions, and others. To overcome financial hurdles for climate mitigation, we will also establish a fund to support investment into LCD, including exploring innovative business models, as well as supporting pilot projects with significant low-carbon potential.

Our workplan and reporting framework demonstrate the impact of our activities at national and sub-national levels. We adopt an adaptive programming approach to respond to existing opportunities and challenges, particularly during election periods, while ensuring inclusivity through integrated Gender Equality Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI).

Impact

The programme aims to reduced GHG emissions below the baseline levels by decreasing emissions intensity. We anticipate transformative changes in key areas below:

• Ambitious low carbon development mainstreamed into planning and budgeting process in both national and sub-national level.
• Cross-sectoral low carbon development policies and regulations are established, strengthened, and enforced.
• Climate finance is  leveraged and mobilised for climate actions.