Reiner Brabar, Sorong – Calls for a boycott on carbon trading, ending the release and discharge of emissions, as well as accelerating the recognition of customary and people's management areas have been echoed because of its direct impact on the existence of the archipelago's indigenous peoples.

The government officially launched the Indonesian Carbon Exchange (IDX Carbon) on Tuesday September 26. A carbon exchange business management license was given to the IDX by the Financial Services Authority (OJK) through Decree Number Kep-77/D.04/2023 on September 18. President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said that it is hoped that the launch of the exchange will contribute to fighting the climate crisis.

According to media reports, during the launch at the Stock Exchange Building, president Widodo said, "The result of this [carbon] trading is that it will be reinvested in efforts to protect the environment, especially though reducing carbon emissions".

In response to this, a network of civil society organisation including the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), the Nusantara Traditional Community Alliance (AMAN), Greenpeace, the Mining Advocacy Network (JATAM), the People's Earth Heritage Foundation (Pusaka), the PIKUL Foundation, the Nusantara Traditional Community Defense Association (PPMAN) and the School of Democratic Economics (SDE) expressed their opposition to carbon trading, which has been chosen by the government to overcome the climate crisis.

The opposition was officially conveyed through a letter titled "Boycott carbon trading, end the release and discharge of emissions, and accelerate the recognition of customary and people's management areas!", which was addressed to the president, related industries, the IDX and the international verification institute Verra.

Walhi national plantation and forestry campaign manager Uli Arta Siagian said that carbon trading is a misguided way to overcome the climate crisis.

The network of organisations believes that the government is creating a trade crisis because the nature of carbon trading is granting permits by the state to corporation and industrial countries to continue releasing emissions by balancing carbon or carbon offsets.

"Carbon trading was chosen in order to ensure that corporations and industrial countries can continue to extracting [resources from] nature, either through extracting underground fossil fuels, burning fossil fuels, deforestation as well as conservation project that will further extend the chain of conflict and the climate crisis", said Siagian.

AMAN director for legal policy advocacy and human rights, Muhammad Arman, is of the view that carbon trading by the Indonesian government will threaten traditional communities. Carbon trading practices will be done without recognising, protecting or fulfilling the rights of traditional communities.

This, according to Arman, is the same as the practice of colonialism.

"The various legal instruments that have been issued by the government in bridging carbon trading are only orientated to the interests of investment, and represent a tangible manifestation of the government 'washing its hands' of extractive industrial practices that are the source of emissions" said Arman.

[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Boikot Perdagangan Karbon Diserukan".]

Source: https://suarapapua.com/2023/09/28/boikot-perdagangan-karbon-diserukan/