Eliswan Azly, Jakarta – Indonesian and Norwegian negotiators will meet in Jakarta this week to discuss the implementation of a bilateral climate deal to combat deforestation in Indonesia, but the possibility that a moratorium will be agreed upon at the meeting has drawn mixed reactions.
Miners in particular have strongly objected to a possible two-year moratorium on forest clearing, while environmentalists have support the idea as a concrete measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Supriatna Suhala, executive director of the Indonesian Coal Mining Association (APBI), recently said new mining projects could be delayed if the moratorium was adopted. Mining ventures such as the BHP Billiton coal project in Kalimantan could be affected.
BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company, and local partner Adaro Energy are developing the Maruwai coal project in East and Central Kalimantan, and are currently waiting for forest land-use permits from the government. BHP Billiton said their concession held 774 million tons of undeveloped metallurgical and thermal coal.
Supriatna said the moratorium might also affect companies that needed to expand their concessions. "There are some companies whose forest land-use permits will expire within two years. They may have to stop operating," he said. The moratorium was still being discussed and APBI's objections had already been lodged with the Ministry of Forestry, Supriatna added.
In late May, the government signed an agreement with Norway to implement a two-year moratorium on forest conversions to reduce carbon emissions in return for a $1 billion grant to reduce deforestation. The government is now preparing a presidential decree to implement the agreement.
Meanwhile, Priyo Pribadi Soemarno, executive director of the Indonesian Mining Association, said he was more concerned about the draft presidential decree than the agreement with Norway.
"The agreement only says the moratorium is aimed at reducing emission by halting forest-use permits for natural forests and peat forests," he said. "We fully support this as most mining operations in Indonesia are outside natural forests and peat lands."
But Priyo said the draft decree raised concerns because one article stated that the government would review all concessions previously granted. "This reflects an effort to withdraw what has been given and this will have a bad effect on investment," he said.
Even without the moratorium, many mining projects, such as the $500 million zinc and black tin project by Dairi Prima Mineral, and the Elang copper project by Newmont Nusa Tenggara, have been in limbo for years due to permit problems, he said.
Both projects are currently waiting for permits to be granted by the government.
Priyo said a total of eight projects were in a similar situation. "Around $14 billion in potential investment in these projects have been delayed due to this problem," he was quoted as saying in the Indonesian media.
Masnellyarti Hilman, a deputy minister for environmental damage control at the State Ministry for the Environment, said the conflict between mining activities and environmental issues had always been one-sided.
"We always talk about the mining sector's contribution to the state budget, but we never discuss how much the government has to spend for disasters caused by environmental damage," she said.
In response to the possible moratorium, conservationists from around the world have expressed hope about the measure.
The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation concluded its recent meeting in Bali with a declaration of support for limiting logging with a moratorium, which it said should be implemented immediately.
The Bali Declaration, as it was called, even urged the government to go a step further and restrict the expansion of developments in non-forest areas, and to re-evaluate all logging permits issued before the moratorium came into effect.
ATBC co-chairman William Laurance said the declaration was written with positive intentions. "We really tried to emphasize a lot of positive issues in Indonesia, and consider many challenges in Indonesia and in other tropical countries," he said.
The government's conservation plans would face many challenges, he said, adding some industries were obviously not going to be happy about it.
"There has already been opposition to the proposed moratorium on concessions for oil palm and wood and pulp plantations," he said. "We are arguing that the moratorium is absolutely crucial, and also that the government should resist" opposition to it.
The $1 billion deal with Norway would add impetus to the wider conservation effort, Laurance said. "But the money will be clearly linked to outcomes, and my understanding is that Norway will not pay that money unless there is clear progress," he added.