Indonesia’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement on climate change underscores the importance of adopting a landscape-scale and ecosystem management approach. It also emphasises the pivotal role played by subnational jurisdictions. In the vast and decentralised context of Indonesia, subnational governments, particularly at the district level, are poised to assume a key role in a comprehensive, jurisdictional approach to forest and land use. This approach will help reduce deforestation and improve the sustainability of commodity production.
Nonetheless, addressing barriers to legal and sustainable commodity production is complex and demands a multifaceted strategy. It not only entails strengthening the enabling environment within jurisdictions where commodities are cultivated, but also shifting incentive structures and enhancing transparency throughout supply chains. Consequently, the jurisdictional approach requires the involvement of a diverse set of stakeholders. The private sector, civil society, and vulnerable actors such as micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as indigenous communities, all play indispensable roles in fortifying this approach. Their participation is instrumental in mitigating the risk of deforestation pressures cascading through supply chains and jurisdictions.
Crucially, collaboration between the public and private sectors stands as a foundation of the jurisdictional approach, to help curb deforestation stemming from the production and trade of forest-risk commodities. The EU REDD Facility seeks to empower district governments in Indonesia to take an active role in facilitating and catalysing private sector investments in sustainable production and trade of palm oil. This can be done through the facilitation of public-private partnerships (PPP) involving major buyers, traders and producers of forest-risk commodities at the jurisdictional level. The success of such PPP initiatives depends on their alignment with national and subnational strategies and their foundation on sound economic principles that yield clear, sustainable, socially responsible and long-term benefits for smallholder producers and local communities.
As part of such support, the EU REDD Facility is piloting the design, facilitation and implementation of a jurisdictional PPP approach together with WRI Indonesia and the district government in Banyuasin District, South Sumatra Province. The approach focuses on sustainable production and trade of palm oil, a key forest-risk commodity in the region.
