Press Release

Indonesia’s Green Growth Program to include Private Sector and Civil Society in new Steering Committee

JAKARTA – February 13, 2014 – As the Government of Indonesia continues its drive toward a low carbon and green economy, a workshop co-hosted by Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) in Jakarta on February 12 focused on the need to strengthen collaboration both across government departments and with other sectors of society to achieve green growth.

With this goal in mind, a multi-stakeholder Steering Committee will be established to provide vision and direction to the Green Growth Program, a collaborative initiative between the Government of Indonesia and GGGI.

The high-level meeting was hosted by the Vice Minister of the National Development Planning Agency (BAPPENAS), Lukita Tuwo, who also represents Indonesia on the GGGI Council. Attending were about 100 senior representatives from a variety of government agencies, such as the Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, along with representatives from the governments of Central and East Kalimantan, and participants from civil society organizations and key private sector associations. The newly established REDD+ Agency was also represented as a major partner in the delivery of the Green Growth Program.

The aim of the meeting was to take stock of the program’s progress and discuss the role and make-up of the multi-stakeholder Steering Committee to be formed soon.

Vice Minister Lukita highlighted that green growth requires collaboration across many government ministries. “Alongside effective cooperation between and inside government agencies, it is critical that the private sector and civil society are actively involved,” he said in his opening speech. “With the support of all stakeholders, a systematic green growth approach can be fully integrated into government planning processes.”

Anna van Paddenburg, GGGI’s Country Representative, noted in her remarks that Indonesia has shown the highest level of political support for achieving green growth. “The joint Green Growth Program aims to systematically integrate the pro-growth, pro-jobs, pro-poor and pro-environment development ambition into policy making, planning and investment processes,” she said. “The establishment of the Steering Committee creates an effective mechanism for engaging key stakeholders from across society in support of the Government’s efforts.”

Representatives from the Ministries of Public Works, Agriculture and Environment expressed the importance of this horizontal approach across sectoral agencies when it comes to green growth. In addition, the model of embedding GGGI staff within government offices and the close partnership of the GGGI Indonesia team with the various agencies was commended by Ms. Erna Witoelar, former UN Special Ambassador for MDGs and former Indonesian Minister on Regional Development.

GGGI has been working with Indonesian provincial governments since 2010 to help them identify green growth opportunities. In 2013, GGGI and the Indonesian Government launched a comprehensive program aimed at integrating green growth policies into the country’s broader economic planning, including Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+).

In 2013, the GoI and GGGI developed a framework for defining what green growth means for Indonesia. This will be applied to future work, which, in 2014, includes developing a Green Growth Roadmap that will include short, medium and long-term priorities and interventions for Indonesia to achieve green growth.

The meeting included updates from each component of the Green Growth Program. Particular focus was placed on the results from the first green growth assessment, carried out in the Maloy Economic Zone in East Kalimantan.

This analysis examined the measurable economic costs and benefits of green growth policies, including social and environmental cost and benefits. The assessment found that the green growth performance of the project can be improved through investment in a range of interventions, including rerouting the railway to avoid deforestation and using renewable resources for power generation, amongst others.

Vice Minister Lukita responded positively and proposed that he discuss these with the Provincial Government.

There are several other green growth assessments under way in 2014 to test the method across key economic sectors in Indonesia. The results of these analyses, along with the other outputs of the Program, will inform the creation of the Green Growth Roadmap. This will not only support making green growth a central part of the planning processes but also help the private sector assess the potential for directing investments toward newer and cleaner technologies.