Plans to Preserve Indonesia Forest May Be Hijacked, Report Warns

An ambitious $1 billion deal between Norway and Indonesia to reduce carbon emissions by preserving Indonesia forests could be “hijacked” by timber and palm oil companies, according to a Greenpeace report. The advocacy group warns that business interests intend to manipulate Norwegian funds earmarked for forest protection and instead use them to subsidize the conversion of more forest into plantations. Earlier this year, Indonesia agreed to impose a two-year moratorium on new forestry concessions in exchange for up to $1 billion from Norway, which has played a leading role in slowing deforestation worldwide. The arrangement would utilize a UN-backed scheme known as REDD, or Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation. But palm oil and pulp producers are exploiting Indonesia’s ambiguous definitions of forests and degraded land to divert those funds. According to Greenpeace, the arrangement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions could “create perverse incentives” to clear forests and peat land and actually result in higher emissions.