JAKARTA – The palm oil industry from upstream to downstream has apparently given great contribution to the efforts of controlling climate change. The Indonesia’s oil palm plantation cover of 16.38 million hectares absorbs 2.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) every year.
Economic Coordinating Ministry’s Deputy in charge of Foods and Agriculture Coordination, Musdalifah Mahmud said that in line with the commitment to reduce carbon emissions that has been initiated by Indonesia through the document of Nationally Determinded Contribution (NDC), the Indonesian government will keep ensuring that the Indonesian palm oil industry implements the principles of sustainability.
“In line with the NDC document, the palm oil industry from upstream to downstream plays an important role in reaching the national target in 2030,” she said when presenting her keynote speech during a public discussion on “Contributing Palm Oil Towards Carbon Emission Reduction” in the conference of COP27 UNFCCC in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt recently.
To encourage the practices of sustainability in the palm oil industry, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has issued the presidential regulation (Perpres) No:44/2020 on the certification system of Indonesia Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO). The ISPO certification will increase Indonesian competitiveness at global market and reduce carbon emissions in the palm oil industry of Indonesia.
Musdalifah said that Indonesia has also produced biodiesel 30 percent (B30), with a mixture of palm oil and diesel fuel, to increase the role of the palm oil industry in reducing the carbon emissions and reduce Indonesia’s dependence on the fossil fuels.
Based on calculations, the B30 program had reduced greenhouse gas emission by around 29.5 million tons of CO2 in 2022. In addition to that, the oil palm cover of 16.38 million hectares has also contributed through the absorption of 2.2 billion tons of CO2 every year.
The contribution of carbon absorption from the palm-based biodisel is expected to further increase through the implementation of B40 program and the increase of the contribution of the new and renewable energy, in which included the palm-based energy sources, up to 23 percent to the national energy mix in 2025.
The environment and forestry ministry’s (KLHK) Climate Change Control Director General Laksmi Dewanthi said that to reduce the carbon emissions from land use, the government has issued a policy to stop issuance of new licenses in primary forests and peat lands.
Laksmi said that to increase palm oil production the government will no longer rely on policy that pushes up extensification but the policies that encourage intensification as contained in the document of NDC.
The Indonesian government will increase the productivity of oil palm plantations from 18.18 tons of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) per hectare per year in 2019 to at least 20.4 tons per hectare per year in 2030.
According to her, based on the national action plan of sustainable oil palm plantations 2019-2024 the government will keep pushing the palm oil industry to protect biodiversity and landscape.
The stipulation will become a guideline in resolving the problems of land sites in the oil palm plantations and other efforts to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions.
The IPB University’s Deputy Rector Professor Dodik R Nurrochmat said that the development of oil palm plantations as agroforestry system can be effective in increasing the absorption of carbon emissions in degraded lands.
She said that applying such oil palm agroforestry system will increase productivity of lands, keep hydrological and ecological functions, and increase the absorption and storage of carbon dioxide.
“By raising the productivity of lands, we can reduce the forest and land fires that have become a source of carbon emissions,” she said. (*)
Source: Investor Daily
