The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) through the UN-Partnership for Action on Green Economy (UN-PAGE) project in collaboration with Ministry of National Development Planning (Bappenas) has kicked off Low Carbon Development Initiative (LCDI) implementation in  West Java province.

As a result of this initiative, environmental indicators, such as greenhouse gases emission and carrying capacity, will be integrated in the Provincial Medium-term Development Plan (RPJMD). This will bring West Java as the pioneering province in the LCDI implementation.

More than 100 participants from several city and municipal governments in West Java, NGOs, the private sector, as well as development partners attended the meeting. The event was hosted by the Head of the Regional Development Planning Agency (Bappeda) of West Java Province, Dr. Ir. H. M. Taufiq B. Santoso, M.Soc.Sc. The Director of Environmental Affairs of the Ministry of National Development Planning, Dr.  Medrilzam delivered the keynote speech and a presentation about the LCDI. A talk show followed the speeches and included a panel of speakers including Dr. Verania Andria from UNDP, Dr. Jun Ichihara from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Dr. Atjeng Kadaryana from the German Development Agency (GIZ).

“Different from the previous development plan, reducing GHG emissions has been one of the development macro indicators in the recently issued National Medium-term Development Plan (RPJMN) 2020-2024, and includes environmental issues on the same platform for action as economic development, poverty eradication, lowering the gini ratio, tackling the unemployment rate, and human development index”, said Dr. Medrilzam in his keynote speech. The 2020-2024 RPJMN, is said to be the country’s first “Green National Medium-term Development Plan”.

Dr. Taufiq,  Head of Bappeda West Java echoed similar sentiments, noting that “Low carbon development planning is a solution to boost economic growth and eradicate poverty without sacrificing environmental sustainability”.

During the talkshow Dr. Verania Andria from UNDP stressed that “Private sector involvement is critical in achieving LCDI targets in Indonesia”.

The Government of Indonesia has been working progressively on a Low Carbon Development Initiative (LCDI) policy ever since it was initiated during the UNFCCC COP23 in 2017. LCDI aims to incorporate environmental considerations such as reduction in carbon emissions targets and interventions for preserving and restoring the environmental carrying capacity into development plan. For that purpose, a modeling tool has been developed, which allows simultaneous assessment of social, environmental and economic impacts in various development scenarios.

This year, LCDI has entered its second implementation phase with focus to the implementation  of the Green National Medium-term Development Plan (RPJMN) 2020-2024 and replication of the LCDI approach in Medium-Term Development Plans of selected pilot provinces.

The Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) Indonesia is a global project implemented by 5 UN Agencies, i.e. UN Environment, UNDP, ILO, UNIDO and UNITAR.  UN-PAGE Indonesia has pledged to support the strengthening of LCDI Policy, Private Sector Engagement, Communication, and Regional LCDI replication in West Java, Central Java, and Bali pilot provinces.

For West Java in particular, UNDP through PAGE is supporting the province in mainstreaming the LCDI approach through technical support and training on modeling tool for a number of development planners and civil servants. In addition, PAGE will collaborate with the Innovative Financing Lab (IFL) to support private sector engagement and resource mobilization for selected LCDI scenario implementation in the province by conducting a thorough feasibility study and developing business cases.

For more information contact:

Diah Pratiwi (diah.pratiwi@undp.org)

Marina Adel (marina.adel@undp.org)

Website: https://www.un-page.org/countries/page-countries/indonesia