Indonesia introduces carbon emissions monitoring system

thejakartapost.com Paris 7 Dec 15;

The Indonesian government has introduced a monitoring system named the Indonesian National Accounting Carbon System (INCAS) in a bid to reduce national carbon emissions.

The government presented the INCAS recently during the Global Landscape Forum (GLF) on the sidelines of the COP 21 UNFCCC in Paris.

“This will help Indonesia to monitor our emissions reductions and reach our target of a 29 percent reduction by 2030,” said presidential special envoy for climate change Rachmat Witoelar as quoted on Kompas.com.

The system will use spatial data from the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN) to calculate carbon stocks, Rachmat said in his opening statement.

INCAS, which will work under the Ministry of Environment and Forestry’s Research, Development and Innovation Agency, was also supported by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and Australian Aid, he added.

INCAS head researcher Haruni Krisnawati said that the carbon monitoring system had been in development since 2011 and had met the standards of the UNFCCC Reporting Guidelines of Transparency, Accuracy, Consistency, Comparability and Completeness (TACCC).

The system can also be used to measure carbon stocks in forest and peatland areas, both underground and aboveground, Haruni added.

Earlier, Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya said that Indonesia had committed to a transparent method of calculating its carbon emissions.

“We have assured developed nations that Indonesia will conduct calculations in a transparent and responsible manner in order to reach the targeted 29 percent carbon emissions reduction,” she said. (liz/dan)(+)