Climate change has become a global crisis. The UN Secretary General said the world has entered the era of global boiling. The impact of the climate crisis has been very real for the people of Indonesia, such as the increasing frequency and intensity of floods, typhoons, storms, high waves, drought, and other extreme weather disasters, including the worsening of forest and land fires that have burned 1 million ha of land in 2023, crop failure, the spread of new diseases and pandemics, damage to coral reefs and marine ecosystems, and the loss of islands and regions in Indonesia.
As a tropical archipelago, Indonesia’s vulnerability to the impacts of the climate crisis is the 3rd highest in the world (World Bank, 2021). If the climate crisis worsens, Indonesia’s economy (GDP) is expected to decline by 7% by 2100. Not to mention, the worst impacts of the climate crisis will be borne by vulnerable groups who contribute the least to the crisis (IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report).
To avoid the dangers of the climate crisis, the world needs urgent climate action. Our last chance to act is this decade (2020-2030). Actions taken now will determine the fate of the planet, its people and its creatures for thousands of years to come. Countries must not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation), but also increase the ability of communities to withstand the climate crisis (adaptation) and address climate loss and damage (loss & damage). Climate action must also be equitable, meaning it seeks to eliminate existing ecological, socio-economic and political injustices and prevent them from arising new injustices resulting from climate action itself.
Unfortunately, global commitments and actions are far from sufficient to prevent the global community from facing a climate crisis. The first Global Stocktake released by the UNFCCC on 8 September 2023 found that global emissions are still rising, funding commitments from developed countries have not been met, and support for adaptation is far from adequate (WRI, 2023).
Therefore, during COP28 from November 30, to December 12, Indonesian civil societies calls on the Indonesian and global governments to issue a firm political commitment and mandate to scale up climate action in an equitable manner.
7 things that must come out of COP 28
1. Assistance to countries and communities that are most affected and have the lowest capacity to respond to the climate crisis.
COP 28 must agree on the target amount of funds needed to address damage and loss due to the climate crisis (Loss & Damage). Developed countries based on the principle of CBDR (Common but Differentiated Responsibility) must immediately provide a fair, adequate and new portion of funding so that the operationalization of the Loss & Damage funding. The most effective funding mechanisms can be implemented immediately. The operationalization of Loss & Damage funding mechanisms allocated to countries and communities most in need should be based on vulnerability and capacity assessments taking into account adaptation constraints. Funding mechanisms should be designed to be simple without getting bogged down in complex bureaucratic processes and immediately accessible to affected communities in an effective and efficient manner. Loss & Damage should focus on reconstruction, restoration and rehabilitation and provide financial support for communities who have lost their homes either temporarily or permanently. Loss & Damage should also provide financial support for both economic and non-economic losses such as loss of cultural heritage and biodiversity.
2. Strengthen climate commitments (NDCs) in line with Global Stocktake results;
The output of the Global Stocktake should be a reference for strengthening each country’s climate commitment. It is also for re-setting the course of each country in determining the direction of its emission reduction and the form of the next NDC.
The next round of NDCs must close the emission gap of 20.3-23.9 Gt CO2 eq by 2030 without reducing the adaptive capacity of other countries, especially in developing and poor countries, while protecting the human rights of local communities1. In addition, this moment needs to be used to enhance a more participatory and inclusive process in involving Non- State Actors in the next revision of the NDC.
3. Adopt a global target for phasing out all fossil fuels;
Stop the utilisation of fossil fuels for all types and countries without exception both on-grid and off-grid including captive, because we are already at the crisis stage. Therefore, all countries are obliged to phase out fossil fuels and transition to renewable energy. This must be done in an equitable by protecting the rights of those most affected and those who contribute the least, including laborer’s, with due regard to gender and social rights, including land rights, and the right to a good and healthy environment.
4. Adopt a global target to stop the destruction and restore all natural ecosystems including forests, coasts, mangroves and oceans by 2030;
Six of the nine safe planetary boundaries that support human life and well- being have already been exceeded, including land system changes due to forest loss and degradation and freshwater system changes. Therefore, COP 28 must agree on global targets to stop the destruction and restore all natural ecosystems before all planetary boundaries are exceeded.
5. Radical systemic changes in food production, energy, forest and land use, and development;
Fundamentally change the system to refocus food provision at the local scale as the antithesis of the green revolution. Production and consumption patterns for food, energy, land use and development must reflect the true value of emissions, across the entire value chain. This includes the use of renewable energy and environmentally friendly practices in forest and land management, with the ultimate goal of reducing carbon emissions and negative environmental impacts.
6. Recognition of the role and rights of indigenous and local communities and local solutions to climate change;
The recognition of the role and rights of indigenous peoples must start from ensuring tenure rights as the main prerequisite before anything else, followed by ensuring direct funding, one of which is through determining and meeting concrete targets for funding that can be accessed by indigenous peoples, local communities, coastal communities and other vulnerable groups, including but not limited to people with disabilities, the elderly, children and youth, women including girls, farmers, fishermen, laborer’s and workers. Ensure that the solutions and support provided reflect the diverse conditions and needs of affected communities.
7. Recognizing the failure of rich countries’ leadership in preventing the destruction of the earth.
Devolve negotiating leadership to poor and affected countries towards economic transformation with a vision of equitable access to and sustainable utilization of resources, repudiation of burdensome foreign debt and resulting climate colonialism that gives the enjoyment of a few citizens in rich countries at the expense of the natural and economic resources of citizens in the rest of the world.
Urge to the Delegation of the Republic of Indonesia
1. Back to the field: natural forests are still being lost, small islands are threatened, unjust energy transitions are destroying the environment and grabbing communities of their rights, destruction of coastal areas, waters, coral reefs, mangroves continues to occur so that the economy of local communities is lost. Civil society data recorded that during the period 2001-2022 there was a loss of 6.5 million hectares of natural forest cover, including mangroves. 176,000 hectares of this was lost in the last three years (Mapbiomas, 2023).
2. Follow up and incorporate global stocktake evaluation considerations to strengthen the ambition of Indonesia’s Second NDC in accordance with pathway 1.5C with more transparent, accountable, inclusive and participatory implementation. The development of the Second NDC should involve vulnerable and most affected groups, civil society, and local stakeholders. The Second NDC should also emphasize mitigation and adaptation obligations and their financing to the parties that contributed the most to the crisis.
3. Align all development plans, policies, and projects with efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase climate resilience in an equitable as well as fundamental corrections to high-carbon economic systems and models. Stop development projects that contradict efforts to overcome the climate crisis such as the National Strategic Project (PSN) for the expansion of land and forest product-based businesses, including Food Estate, road infrastructure and dams, the development of new economic industrial areas and mining, as well as the provision of easy policies and facilities supporting PSN which actually reduce the adaptive capacity of the community, increase greenhouse gas emissions, and violate human rights.
4. Adaptation and mitigation should not be done separately, but always together so that mitigation actions do not reduce adaptive capacity and adaptation actions can contribute to emission reductions with a balanced allocation of funding resources.
5. Deliver a just and inclusive energy transition, from policies that support upstream to downstream ecosystems, financing, technological breakthroughs, human resource development, participation, enabling conditions, and resource access, and support energy transition efforts determined at the local and community levels. The energy transition must include elements of alleviating existing injustices and abandoning exploitative energy management systems. The importance of the energy transition is not only focused on return on investment, but also considers social return on investment values.
6. Protect and restore natural ecosystems, not just forests, peat, coastal and marine ecosystems, but also the rich biodiversity within them by halting land use change that reduces communities’ capacity to adapt, triggers rapid animal extinction and is incompatible with efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
7. Prepare and anticipate climate disasters that will become more frequent by encouraging locally led and contextualized adaptation and setting up Loss and Damage fund disbursement mechanisms that can reach the local level. In addition, the focus in the process needs to be on vulnerable groups, including but not limited to persons with disabilities, the elderly, children, women including girls, indigenous peoples, farmers, fishermen, laborer’s and workers (formal and non-formal).
8. Recognize and protect the rights of indigenous peoples, farmers, and local communities (MAPKL) including land rights, as well as the rights of vulnerable groups as a precondition for effective adaptation and mitigation actions. Adaptation and mitigation actions based on indigenous values and traditional knowledge of MAPKLs need to be recognized and accommodated in line with the community’s past and present experiences and learning.
9. Protect the rights of all citizens through human rights due diligence in mitigation and adaptation activities. Protection also needs to be done through strengthening guarantees of human rights including the right to work and decent livelihoods, especially for those who will be affected by the energy transition including informal sectors and actors who are affected and invisible in the system. Reform of labor regulations including the Job Creation Law to better protect labor rights and workers’ rights is a must in carrying out the energy transition.
10. Stop all forms of threats and intimidation to every citizen who seeks to obtain the right to a clean and healthy environment for present and future generations.
11. Divert funding flows from emission-intensive sectors to those that focus on environmental recovery and restoration. Provide climate finance that is not only equitable, but also accessible to affected communities and networks of youth who want to participate in mitigation and adaptation efforts. Avoid debt traps in climate finance.
12. The new government must be more assertive in anticipating the risks of climate disasters and develop a more ambitious and measurable climate action plan until 2030.
13. Ensure that any proposed solutions have a real impact on reducing emissions and containing temperature rise. Leaving solutions to market mechanisms and interests is a setback.
Supported by:
1. Auriga Nusantara Foundation
2. HuMa Association
3. Humanist and Social Innovation Foundation
4. Sustainable MADANI Foundation
5. Perkumpulan Mandala Katalika Indonesia (Manka)
6. Yayasan Penguatan Lingkar Belajar Komunitas Lokal (PIKUL)
7. Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR)
8. EcoNusa Foundation
9. Partnership for Governance Reform
10. Intsia Foundation in the Land of Papua
11. Transformasi untuk Keadilan Indonesia (TuK INDONESIA)
12. Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Indonesia
13. Forest Watch Indonesia (FWI)
14. Bentala Rakyat Heritage Foundation
15. ICCAs Indonesia Working Group
16. Asian Trend
17. WALHI National
18. Indonesian Traditional Fishermen’s Union (KNTI)
19. Koaksi Indonesia