Indonesia is part of the United Nations Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (UN-REDD) programme by the UN, to monitor and regulate greenhouse gases emissions, as well as the removal of greenhouse gases through enhanced forest management. It is a framework where developing countries that took actions to effectively to reduce emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths to create sustainable management of forests will be financially rewarded in relative to the extent of their achieved emissions reductions.
Indonesia receives direct support from the UN to Indonesia National Programmes, where these funds help to support the development and implementation of national REDD+ strategies.
Under the National REDD+ strategies, the Indonesian government signed of a letter of intent with Norway on 26 May 2010, to place a two-year regulation on new logging concessions. In return for a two-year freeze on new concessions given to firms for logging, Norway has committed $1 billion to Indonesia, to help preserve its forests. This extra funding provides the necessary fiscal stimulus to enable Indonesia to expand the scope of REDD+, helping to curb the deforestation situation. In addition, Norway is going to help Indonesia to set up a system to help reduce corruption, so that the deal can be enforced. The two-year logging moratorium was declared on 20 May 2011, and was extended by another two years in 2013.
Under the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement committed to reducing international carbon emissions levels, Indonesia would be given credit for making reforestation or re-growth an alternative to oil palm plantations, and preventing fires in peat forests, which produces significant amounts of carbon, which can be easily located and monitored via satellite.
International approach is effective through initiatives such as UN-REDD+ and Kyoto Protocol as it promotes the adoption of policies for controlling deforestation in developing countries by providing monetary incentives, which is something that developing countries such as Indonesia need. This not only allows them to implement more pro-environment policies, but also to improve the country’s economy and standard of living.