Indonesia’s change of government in the province of Aceh may cause a large Australian-owned forest-carbon project to be abandoned. Sources: The Sydney Morning Herald, The Brisbane Times, Maribyrnong Weekly
Currently the project has stalled with Australian businessman and former chief of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, Jeff Carmichael, among those who have invested in the project, which was run by Dorjee Sun.
The project, called Ulu Masen, is just one of a number of forest carbon projects which have faltered or been abandoned in Indonesia due to reports on the possible repercussions of REDD – Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation.
Ulu Masen was designed by Mr Sun and then Aceh governor Irwandi Yusuf in 2007 to preserve 770,000 hectares of prime Aceh forest, including carbon-rich peatland. It was intended to generate millions of carbon credits to be sold on the world market.
The returns would go to the Aceh government, the project’s proponents and to local people to help preserve the forest from oil-palm plantations, loggers and miners.
But so far no carbon credits have been generated or sold and the project has not achieved verification from independent certifying bodies.
The process of certification has stopped because, since Mr Irwandi was ousted in elections two months ago, the new governor, Zaini Abdullah, has not agreed to a meeting. A spokesman for Mr Zaini told The Saturday Age that the project was “under review”.
Dr Carmichael said he remained convinced that REDD was a legitimate means of offsetting industrial emissions, but agreed that ”political risk” could make it difficult in Indonesia, which has one of the highest deforestation rates in the world.
The REDD schemes in Indonesia funded with Australian government money have come under serious criticism for overstating their aims and under-delivering on results.
For the Gillard government, this is more than just a historical problem. Labor’s carbon trading scheme, which begins its fixed-price period on July 1, needs a big supply of carbon credits sourced from other countries.
Without 434 million tonnes of offsets bought offshore per year by 2050, Treasury believes Australia cannot meet even its modest greenhouse reduction targets. Until now, it has been believed saving Indonesian forests could supply many of these offshore credits quickly and cheaply. ”
