indonesia
Indonesian official busted over alleged bribe for palm oil permit
PEKANBARU, Riau — Anti-corruption investigators in Indonesia’s palm oil heartland have arrested a local official for allegedly taking bribes from a palm oil company in exchange for extending its business permit. Officers from the KPK, the national anti-graft agency, have charged Andi Putra, the head of Kuantan Singingi district in Riau province, and Sudarso, general […]
Read MoreIndonesia slashes 2021 mangrove restoration target, vows to make up in 2022
BALI — Indonesia has revised down its 2021 target for rehabilitating mangroves in light of “technical hurdles” brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors, according to the nation’s mangrove restoration agency. The new target is 33,000 hectares (81,500 acres), down from 83,000 hectares (205,000 acres), according to Hartono Prawiraatmadja, the head of the […]
Read MorePalm oil firm that dried out its land held not liable for fires that followed
JAKARTA — Indonesia’s highest court has upheld a ruling declaring a palm oil company not responsible for fires in its concession, in a verdict that boils down to the company not being liable simply because it had put up “no burning” signs. Environmental experts say the Nov. 8 ruling by the Supreme Court in favor […]
Read MoreOne in five hectares of oil palm in Indonesia is illegal, report shows
JAKARTA — Indonesia, the world’s biggest producer of palm oil, owes a substantial slice of that output to criminal deforestation, according to a new report showing that a fifth of its plantations are illegally operating inside designated forest areas. These plantation operators are effectively destroying large swaths of carbon-rich rainforests, releasing huge amounts of greenhouse […]
Read MoreCOP26 cop-out? Indonesia’s clean energy pledge keeps coal front and center
JAKARTA — Indonesia has signed another seemingly landmark pledge at the COP26 climate summit underway in Glasgow, this time to phase out its use of coal, the dominant source in its energy mix, by the 2040s. But as with the first pledge it made at COP26 — to end deforestation by 2030, which it then […]
Read MoreUNESCO reiterates road project’s dangers to Papua park as Indonesia doubles down
JAKARTA — UNESCO has renewed its call for the closure of a road running through Indonesia’s Lorentz National Park after the nation’s environment minister said shutting it down would be impossible. The park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, encompasses a variety of biodiversity-rich ecosystems on the western coast of the island of New Guinea. BirdLife […]
Read MoreIn Indonesia, financial literacy is key to sustainable fishery livelihoods for communities
By Onesya Damayanti and Ria Fitriana EDF strives for sustainable solutions to the world’s most pressing environmental challenges that come from empowering the people and communities we work with. And in Lampung, Indonesia, on the southern tip of Sumatra Island where one of our projects is based, improving financial literacy is essential for the transition […]
Read MoreIn Indonesia, financial literacy is key to sustainable fishery livelihoods for communities
By Onesya Damayanti and Ria Fitriana EDF strives for sustainable solutions to the world’s most pressing environmental challenges that come from empowering the people and communities we work with. And in Lampung, Indonesia, on the southern tip of Sumatra Island where one of our projects is based, improving financial literacy is essential for the transition […]
Read MoreIndonesia’s leader touts green goals at COP26, but overlooks green stewards at home
JAKARTA — Electric vehicles, solar power plants, biofuel, blue carbon, green bonds and the carbon market: all got a mention from Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo in his speech at the World Leaders Summit at the COP26 U.N. climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland. Conspicuously absent from his speech, however, was any commitment to protect the rights […]
Read MoreIndonesia’s flip-flop on zero-deforestation pledge portends greater forest loss
JAKARTA — Indonesian officials have backtracked on the country’s pledge at the COP26 climate summit to end deforestation by 2030, calling it unfair and inappropriate to demand that it stop clearing the world’s third-largest swath of tropical rainforest. The flip-flop has prompted concerns among environmental activists that Indonesia — one of the world’s largest greenhouse […]
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