More than 100 participants from a number of municipal governments in West Java, NGOs, private sector, as well as development partners joined a kick-off meeting on Thursday, 5 March 2020 in Bandung, Indonesia for the Low Carbon Development Initiative. The event was hosted and opened by the Head of Regional Development Planning Agency/Bappeda of West Java Province, Dr. Ir. H. M. Taufiq B. Santoso, M.Soc.Sc and the Director of Environmental Affairs of the Ministry of Development Planning/Bappenas, Dr. Medrilzam delivered a keynote speech and presentation about the LCDI. A panel discussion then followed with contributors from UNDP (Dr. Verania Andria), JICA (Dr. Jun Ichihara), and GIZ (Mr. Atjeng Kadaryana).
The Government of Indonesia has been working progressively on the Low Carbon Development Initiative (LCDI) policy since it was initiated during the UNFCCC COP23 in 2017. The LCDI aims at incorporating environmental considerations such as carbon emissions reduction targets and interventions for preserving and restoring the country’s natural resources into the development planning of Indonesia. The LCDI Phase 1 has successfully incorporated the LCDI approach into the National Medium-term Development Plan (RPJMN) 2020-2024 and introduced a system-dynamics planning tool that allows simultaneous assessment of social, environmental and economic impacts in various development scenarios. This kick off comes as the LCDI enters its implementation phase (phase 2).
“Currently, GHG emission reduction has been one of the macro development targets within the National Medium-term Development Planning (RPJMN) 2020-2024, making the environmental issue as important as economic development, poverty eradication, gini ratio, open unemployment rate, and human development index”, said Dr. Medrilzam in his keynote speech. In alignment with Dr. Medrilzam, the Head of Bappeda West Java said that “Low carbon development planning is a solution to boost economic growth and eradicate poverty without sacrificing environmental sustainability”. During the discussion, Dr. Verania Andria of UNDP stressed that “Private sector involvement is critical in achieving LCDI targets in Indonesia”.
Guided by the LCDI Phase 2 Framework, PAGE, in collaboration with the Ministry of National Development Planning and other development partners aims to support the LCDI model development for the next RPJMN (2025-2029) as well as to accelerate the implementation of LCDI development scenarios in selected pilot provinces. PAGE has pledged to support the strengthening of LCDI Policy, Private Sector Engagement, Communication, and Regional Engagement in West Java, Central Java, and Bali provinces.
For West Java in particular, UNDP through PAGE is supporting the province to mainstream the LCDI approach into West Java’s existing Regional Medium-term Development Plan (RPJMD) 2018-2023 and into the next RPJMD 2025-2029, by providing support for coordination and designing the LCD annual programmes, technical assistance, as well as capacity building/trainings for a number of development planners/civil servants on green/LCD planning. Besides, PAGE will collaborate with the Innovative Financing Lab (IFL) to support private sector engagement and resource mobilization for LCDI in the province by conducting a thorough feasibility study and developing business cases for pilot projects.
IMAGE from left to right: Mr. Atjeng Kadaryana (GIZ), Dr. Verania Andria (UNDP), Dr. Medrilzam (Head of Environmental Affairs Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas), Dr. Ir. H. M. Taufiq B. Santoso, M.Soc.Sc. (Head of Regional Development Planning Agency West Java), Dr. Jun Ichihara (JICA), and Moderator.