Defara Dhanya, Jakarta – Greenpeace Indonesia says the government still needs to make fundamental changes to ensure indigenous communities and vulnerable groups benefit fairly from climate funding. Country Director of Greenpeace Indonesia, Leonard Simanjuntak, believes that one step is to stop extractive industries and planned deforestation.
Leonard quoted United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, during the Leaders' Summit of COP30 in Belem, Brazil, on 6-7 November 2025. "This is not just about temperature. This is about the survival of humans, forests, and the future," said Leonard, repeating Guterres' words.
At the forum, Guterres acknowledged that countries around the world have failed to uphold their commitment to limiting the global temperature increase to below 1.5 degrees Celsius. He called for a paradigm shift to slow down the warming of the Earth. He also urged developed countries to fulfill the climate funding commitment of US$300 billion per year, as part of the target of US$1.3 trillion per year for developing countries by 2035. The agreement was made in COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The Executive Director of the Center of Economic and Law Studies (Celios), Bhima Yudhistira Adhinegara, believes that the current climate funding amount is still too small. He believes this condition shows that developed countries are not taking their "climate debt" to developing countries seriously.
"If this practice continues, developing countries like Indonesia will miss the golden opportunity for sustainable growth," Bhima said.
Bhima added that Indonesia should hold developed countries accountable while pushing for a transition to a restorative economy through changes in domestic fiscal and banking policies. This transition has the potential to increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by up to Rp2,208 trillion in 25 years.
Bhima believes the Tropical Forests Forever Fund (TFFF) initiative, started by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, could be an effective funding model. The US$125 billion fund is designed under a results-based payments scheme for tropical forest countries that successfully reduce deforestation. Twenty percent of that amount must be allocated to indigenous communities and local groups.
"This condition can only occur with meaningful involvement of indigenous communities, not just the decision of government elites and international partners," Bhima said.
The Executive Director of the Sustainable Civil Society Foundation, Nadia Hadad, reminded that global climate funding should truly reach forest and ecosystem conservation communities, "Not just through large projects that are prone to greenwashing," she said.