On the panel discussion with the topic of “Role of Technology and Science in Plastic Waste Reduction Program”, the Executive Director of IBCSD, Indah Budiani, gave a talk on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) and Circular Economy. She explained that some industry use plastic waste as a material to run their business or to produce new products. Plastic shouldn’t be blamed, but behavior should. Right behavior and education will prevent plastic in polluting the environment nor as marine debris. This is the role of IBCSD in building partnerships with the government and also members to promote SCP and Circular Economy. IBCSD also encourages members to be responsible for any waste produced from business activities including plastic waste. 

Also present on the event was Mr. Agus H. Reksoprodjo who served as Treasurer of the IBCSD and also as the Chair of the Menwa UI’s Alumni Association. Some visitors also enlivened the IBCSD booth.

Thirty two people representing 16 different institutions: government institutions, private sectors, associations, banking, non-government organisations participated in the brainstorming. The brainstorming session focused on the current problems, strengths and opportunities for the investment of private sectors for inclusive food systems in Indonesia. Just to mention few burning issues among other else are concerning the ageing farmers and the conversion of agricultural land. On the former, based on the data of Central Statistics  Agency (BPS) in 2018 the average of farmers’ age above 45 years old reaches 64,2%. And on the latter, a serious challenge is the fact that the availability of agricultural land for the last five years has been decreasing.

Director for Food and Agriculture, Ministry of National Development Planning (BAPPENAS), Mr. Anang Noegroho in his presentation said that food sector is one of the focused priorities in the coming National Medium-Term Development Plan 2020-2024. The government will increase food availability, access and safety, including by improving the governance of national food systems.  Mobilization of participation and investment of private sectors is very crucial to support the achievement of inclusive food systems in Indonesia.

The two-day training consisted of the sharing of Japan experiences in efforts of global warming countermeasures as well as site visit to see practical implementation on the ground by Japanese company. Since 2006, as shared by the Climate Change Policy Division, MOEJ, Japan has enforced one-gate accounting and reporting system that requires entities emitting considerably large amounts of GHG to calculate their emissions and report it to the Government. “12.432 entities and 1.353 transport services entities reported through this system in Japan Financial Year 2015”, said Division Chief, Yuhei Iino. The participation of private sector in data reporting and climate actions in Japan as shared by LIXIL Corporation, housing and building industry, is not primarily due to regulation but more because of awareness on business risks and opportunities. “The environmental contribution of LIXIL’s products and services through innovative technology leading to low carbon and water saving starts from raw materials procurement, production, product use until the disposal”, said Toshihiro Kawakami, EHS Promotion Division.

Learning from the Japan experiences, BAPPENAS through PaSTI phase 2 in collaboration with related line ministries, in particular the Ministry of Environment and forestry, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, plans to develop synergized reporting platform that will help both state and non-state actor to report their GHG emissions. Together with this initiative, incentive mechanism will also be developed, in particular to encourage climate change actions among the private sector. “Two working groups will be established in PaSTI phase 2: Working Group for Integration System and Working Group for Incentive Mechanism”, said Dr. Ir. Arifin Rudianto, Deputy Minister of Maritime and Natural Resources Affairs, BAPPENAS.

As Peter Skelton, Expert from WRAP said, “reducing food loss and waste, requires cooperation from all key actors, such as government, private sectors, experts, academic, NGOs and donors to develop target reduction strategies”. The Voluntary Approach (VA) approach that emphasize on strong government support, commitment from private sectors and sustainable funding would be an input to solve food loss and waste problem in Indonesia. Nestlé, one of the IBCSD member also shared its practice by giving a holistic view regarding food loss in Nestlé ‘s supply chain and emphasizing the importance of incorporating productivity loss to the food loss measurement. According to Wisman Djaja, Director of Sustainable Agriculture Development Nestlé Indonesia, “The Government of Indonesia should take a lead in coordinating between sectors and forward thinking companies can play a significant role in leading a way towards a more sustainable system”

To promote enhanced climate actions among the member companies, the Indonesia Business Council for Sustainable Development (IBCSD) conducted knowledge sharing event on the above concern with the Overseas Environmental Cooperation Center (OECC), Japan on 18 June 2019 during their visit to Indonesia. On behalf of the Ministry of the Environment, Japan, the OECC itself in collaboration World Research Institute (WRI) supports the Indonesian Ministry of National Development Planning (BAPPENAS) for Partnership to Strengthen Transparency for co-Innovation (PaSTI) program. PaSTI aims to enhance co-innovation between the government, non-state actors and the global community to improve the transparency framework pertaining to the reduction of greenhouse gas emission and to achieve Indonesia’s climate goal in its NDC.

There were eight IBCSD member companies from different industrial sectors attending the knowledge sharing event. They want to learn the climate change actions and efforts among companies and their supply chain partners in Japan. One of the lessons learned is that high level or CEO leadership is a must factor to ensure the climate actions work effectively. The IBCSD member companies are still looking for learning, in particular from PaSTI program on the incentives and greater clarity for enhanced efforts and ambition in climate actions among private sector in Indonesia.

It is all because ‘business as usual’ is no longer an option in the face of a climate changing more rapidly than predicted, declining key ecosystem services, food and energy insecurity for many, and the potential of another financial crisis sparked mainly by short-term thinking and poor governance. Read more about this at https://www.nowjakarta.co.id

The Director of Essential Ecosystem Management, Ministry of Environment and Foresty, Ir. Tandya Tjahjana, MSi in his opening remarks appreciated the initiative for developing module on biodiversity management in mining area. He said, “Our conservation area alone are not able to protect all high – priority species, because many endangered species are living outside conservation area including in mining concessions area”. He expects that inputs from various experts can help mining industries to protect and manage biodiversity in the mining area.

The draft Module of Biodiversity Conservation in Mining Area is developed using the concept of high conservation value (Area Bernilai Konservasi Tinggi / ABKT). This concept aims to protect and manage high value biodiversity outside the conservation area. One of the challenges in implementing the ABKT concept as emphasized in the FGD, is that this concept can only be implemented successfully if there is synergy among different stakeholders since the ABKT deals with cross-boundary issues, as the ABKT is a landscape approach. 

Among the award recipients are chatbot provider Kata.ai, food franchisor Orchi Fried Chicken, wedding and holiday planner Weddingku group, peer-to-peer financing platform Investree, digital wallet provider Payfazz, and lifestyle retailer Metroxgroup.

Indonesia is the third country in ASEAN to launch the SME 100 Awards, after Malaysia and Singapore. Vietnam will be the fourth country with the survey currently being deployed across the country.

SMEs participating in the survey are both optimistic and cautious over the rapid pace of technological development and greater regional economic integration. Many SMEs continue to feel the heat from both technology-based disruptors in their industry and from regional competitors who are adopting technology to outpace them in the market. Almost every SME surveyed realizes the importance of a digital strategy, but many do not have the resources or the capability to implement one. The Indonesian government has invested substantial time and money into helping SMEs in this aspect, but the adoption rate is far slower than ideal.

Leading in sustainable business requires companies to navigate the increasingly complex links between economic, environmental and social spheres. In APRIL, the company wants to develop leaders who are able to tackle the sustainability challenges of tomorrow.

The applications for the APRIL Sustainability Professional Development Programme 2019 is currently open. Over the course of the 18-month programme, candidates will have the unique opportunity to take on sustainability-related roles across APRIL’s operations, understanding sustainability as it relates to the company in various scopes through three distinct rotations.

Interested applicants can find out more about the program in https://www.aprilasia.com/en/sustainability-professional-development-programme