Human and business activities are very influential. We can see this at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic when the PSBB policy was implemented, where in Indonesia we had experienced a reduction in carbon emission levels due to reduced community activities outside the home. But unfortunately, this is only temporary. When people and businesses bounce back to their activities, the level of carbon emissions returns to what it was before. Meanwhile, the Indonesian government through the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) is working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“From climate change mitigation efforts, the government is committed to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by 29% compared to Business As Usual or BAU with its own resources, and can reach 41% compared to BAU with international assistance in 2030,” said the Director General of Climate Change Control, Ruandha Agung Sugardiman.

Ruandha also added that the target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions rests on 5 sectors, namely: the energy sector, the waste sector, the industrial sector, the agricultural sector and the forestry sector. Of these five sectors, the forestry and energy sectors are projected to be the largest contributors to the reduction of greenhouse gases in Indonesia. It is hoped that by 2050, Indonesia will be able to realize its long-term vision of “net zero emission and climate resilience”.

In order to support the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and targeted low-carbon development, the government has integrated climate change and disasters into development planning at both the national and regional levels. In fact, the 2020-2024 National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) document which was established through Presidential Regulation number 18 of 2020 reflects the government’s great concern on the issue of climate change. This can be seen from one of its chapters which specifically discusses the environment, disaster resilience and climate change.

Even so, the government cannot work alone. Its main business sector, can play a big role in helping achieve this plan. IBCSD itself with a network at the global level, is encouraging its member companies to jointly provide a statement as a joint voice of the private sector to protect, restore and use natural resources in a sustainable manner. IBCSD member companies also have programs for the environment, which are integrated with their respective businesses.

“APRIL Group, in 2013 built Riau Ecosystem Restoration (RER), an ecosystem restoration program that aims to protect, restore and conserve peatland forests in Riau Province, Indonesia. This program is part of APRIL’s commitment to conserving production forests. This program has resulted in no hotspots or fires occurring inside the RER concession in 2018, “said Sihol.

In line with APRIL, as told by Abu Ashar, Director of Environment & Energy, PT Vale Indonesia, the mining company he works for is also building a road map to creating clean energy before 2030. As part of Vale Global Company’s commitment to carbon neutral by 2050, PT Vale Indonesia is committed to reducing greenhouse gass emissions by 33%.

Together with Abu Ashar, present as a speaker, Ir. Medrilzam, M.Prof.Econ, Ph.D, Director of Environment, Ministry of National Development Planning / BAPPENAS; Nyoman Iswarayoga, Director of External Affairs, APRIL Group and Marcel Silvius, Indonesia Country Representative, from the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) Indonesia.

          On this occasion, Marcel Silvius emphasized the importance of planning for post-pandemic green growth. “Today, more than ever, it is imperative for Indonesia to consider the benefits of green economic development and sustainable, inclusive and resilient economic growth,” he said. Marcel Silvius also provides an example of investing in renewable energy which will provide at least twice as many jobs, and of higher quality, than investment in fossil fuels. Likewise, investment in pro-nature solutions, such as community-based sustainable agroforestry, which can revitalize degraded rural areas, such as Indonesia’s peatlands, and help achieve Indonesia’s commitments to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

“Through our close collaboration with Bappenas and KLHK and other government partners at the national and provincial levels, GGGI continues to support the Government of Indonesia in realizing a pathway for restoring green growth and low carbon development,” added Marcel Silvius, explaining GGGI’s commitment to support the Government of Indonesia.

Apart from the four speakers, Prof. Dr. Emil Salim, former Minister of Population and Environment and former Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council also attended this webinar. Acting as a responder, Emil Salim agrees with the urgency for low carbon development in Indonesia. This was also conveyed by another respondent, Gita Syahrani, Executive Director of Lingkar Termu Kabupaten Lestari.

This webinar, supported by APRIL, PT Vale Indonesia, GGGI and L’Oreal Indonesia, is the last in a series of webinars held by IBCSD since last June. In total, there have been four webinars that have been held covering the three pillars of the SDGs, both in the economic, social, and environmental pillars. All webinar reruns can be watched again via the IBCSD YouTube account.

Webserie 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhtMB0lKAiI&feature=youtu.be

In the IBCSD webseries for economic pillars that focus on MSMEs, and entitled “SMEs and Ways to Economic Recovery”, Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs Teten Masduki in his keynote speech represented by special staff of the Minister for Creative Economy, Fiki Satari, stated that there were 123.46 trillion funds prepared for SMEs in the National Economic Recovery (PEN) program. As of July 30, 2020, 22.57% of these funds or Rp 27.86 trillion had been absorbed.

The important role of SMEs in the national economy reflects the important role of SMEs in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Indonesia. MSMEs can be at the forefront of achieving the economic pillars of the SDGs by creating jobs, creating decent working conditions, business innovation, adapting and mitigating negative economic, social and environmental impacts on business operations for inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

Collective action from various sectors is urgently needed to support the revival of MSMEs which have been badly hit by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. In this case, the business sector can be a motor for economic growth and job opening. The business sector has the ability to find solutions through technology, innovation and investment. The business sector can also play a role in addressing negative environmental and social impacts through the value chains and supply chains of their business operations. Until now, the business sector has also taken part in developing SMEs for the achievement of SDGs.

“For example, one of our members, the APRIL Group, empowers local communities to improve community welfare through training in sustainable and modern agricultural skills for village farmers in the One Village One Commodity (OVOC) program”, said Sihol Aritonang, Chairman of IBCSD. It is known, APRIL Group works with village communities to select suitable products to specialize in their area, then provides training on modern agricultural methods.

Other example, PT HM Sampoerna Tbk has built a 27 hectare entrepreneurship training center called the ‘Sampoerna Entrepreneurship Training Center’ (SETC) located in Pandaan, East Java. SETC is open to the general public as well as SME’s actors and provides support in the form of free training, access to markets and the use of technology. Since its establishment in 2007, SETC has trained more than 65,000 people and has been visited by more than 110,000 people. Other than thet, PT L’Oreal Indonesia also helps the fostered salons to get back into business in the midst of this new normal.

Present as a speaker at this webinar, Ir. Ahmad Dading Gunadi, MA, Director of Small, Medium Enterprises and Cooperatives, BAPPENAS; Melanie Masriel, Communications, Public Affairs and Sustainability Director, PT L’Oréal; and Arga Prihatmoko, Manager of Regional Engagement & Sustainability, PT HM Sampoerna. In addition, MSME actors were also presented as responders.

Watch the recorded webinar here: Youtube.com/WEBSERIE 2: SMEs and Ways to Economic Recovery

The report highlights the need for a fundamental transformation across three socio-economic systems, which represent over a third of the global economy and provide up to two-thirds of all jobs. These systems are: food, land and ocean use; infrastructure and the built environment; and extractives and energy. Together they drive the threats which endanger almost 80% of the total threatened and near-threatened species. These systems, therefore, have a significant opportunity and responsibility to reverse nature loss. But they also have tremendous upside benefits to gain by embracing this transformation now.

The Future of Nature and Business sets out how 15 transitions across the three systems can form the blueprint of action for nature-positive transitions which could generate up to US$10.1 trillion in annual business value and create 395 million jobs by 2030.

The report has been prepared in collaboration with AlphaBeta. Its findings inform the working priorities of the Champions for Nature, a community of leaders disrupting business-as-usual to lead the way to a nature-positive global economy, as well as a Policy Companion report which sets out how governments can ensure nature is integrated into economies as part of a Great Reset, in a way that delivers high-quality jobs and new sources of economic value, while preserving the natural capital needed for public health and societal resilience.

Download the report

Source: https://www.weforum.org/reports/new-nature-economy-report-ii-the-future-of-nature-and-business*

Watch the taped webinar here:

Covid-19 could reverse the trend of reducing poverty in the last 9 years. The number of new poor people is predicted to rise to between 1.1-3.78 million, and the number of new unemployed is predicted to reach 2.9-5.2 million in the worst-case scenario. Now, the population below the poverty line reaches 10.86%, while the poor and vulnerable population is 30.77%.

Minister of National Development Planning and Head of BAPPENAS, Suharso Monoarfa, revealed the goal of national development in 2021, is first to reduce poverty levels. To achieve these targets, the focus of government economic recovery is the recovery of industry, tourism and investment, including strengthening food security systems; National health system reform; Reform of the social protection system; Reform of the disaster management system; and education reform.

Suharso also said that collaboration is the key to achieving these targets. “The government clearly cannot work alone but requires intensive collaboration between the government, business people, and the community, and various relevant stakeholders. For this reason, various joint steps can be taken to overcome the impact of the pandemic in the business sector collective action agenda to support the achievement of SDGs. “

Related to business world initiatives in supporting the achievement of SDGs, IBSCD Chairman Sihol Aritonang revealed that despite the pandemic, the majority of industries did not change their views on SDGs. As many as 81.8% of respondents from the IBCSD survey stated that the company will continue to do various businesses and work according to the target SDGs that have been determined as a focus even before the pandemic occurs.

In addition to the three speakers, this time the webinar was also filled by the Chairperson of IPB SDG Network Bayu Krisnamurthi, Deputy CEO of PT Vale Indonesia Febriany Edy, and Manufacturing Director of PT Solusi Bangun Indonesia Lilik Unggul Raharjo. UNDP Indonesia Resident Representative, Christophe Bahuet was also present as a respondent, together with representatives of the younger generation through Youth in Sustainability.

This Plenary Webinar is an opening of a series of webinars that will be run by IBCSD. It is planned that there will be three more webinars which will cover development issues and SDGs according to the Social, Economic and Environmental pillars. Rows of speakers from Ministerial level, business actors, to academics are ready to fill in the series of webinars that will last until August 2020. 

Find all the speakers material, press release, and the recorded webinar here:

Download Speakers Material

RAPP President Director, also IBCSD Chairman, Sihol Aritonang handed over this assistance directly to APHI Chairperson Indroyono Soesilo. The donation of medical equipment and necessities from these members is a form of the company’s responsibility and care to support the Covid-19 handling program carried out by the Indonesian government specifically through KLHK.

In total, the Royal Golden Eagle through the Tanoto Foundation brought in 100 thousand protective clothing, 1 million masks, 1 million gloves and 3 thousand protective glasses to provide more adequate protection to medical officers in Indonesia. This assistance has begun to be distributed through BNPB (read more here), and also to Covid-19 referral hospitals in Jakarta, Riau and North Sumatra.

Other member of IBCSD, the APP Sinarmas, also put on some donations. The donations are in the form of 40 thousand pcs masks, 1.000 liters of filma cooking oil, and packages of Lianhua Qingwen Herbal medicines from China. Furthermore, the collected aid will be handed over and coordinated with various related parties specifically with the KLHK Covid-19 Task Force.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were formally agreed by heads of government in 2015 as a global policy agenda and framework for development until 2030. The SDGs consist of 17 goals and 169 targets which are expected to be a reference for global action plans for development 15 next year (2015-2030). IBCSD as a business association committed to supporting sustainable development has also encouraged private sector participation to support SCP through the Green Lifestyle Program since 2017. In 2020 this program has entered the second phase with the aim of strengthening collaboration by involving more business actors and stakeholders related to creating market demand that supports the achievement of SCP in Indonesia.

The webinar was attended by Head of Environment and Forestry Standardization Center from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry: Ir. Noer Adi Wardojo, M.Sc. as the main speaker. As stated by Noer Adi in the webinar, IBCSD will take the responsibility to become an official partner of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry regarding the SCP standards for businesses. It is in line with the objective of the webinar, which are: To get input from private sectors on the the framework of Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) Indonesia until the year 2030, and to enhance private sector network and collaboration in implementation of the Green Lifestyle project to support SCP (SDG 12) in Indonesia

Speakers from various stakeholders shared their insights to increase people awareness and build collaborative actions to steward the biodiversity in Indonesia. Director General for Natural Resources and Ecosystem Conservation, Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Mr. Wiratno, M.Si shared 10 ways to manage forest conservation that among others include seeing community as subject, respect for human rights and local wisdom, cross-sectors collaboration, science based-decision making and multi-layers leadership. From business perspective, Dharsono Harsono, CEO PT RMU, emphasised that to protect forest, businesses need to learn from local community and work seriously for their welfare. “To make the community prosperous is the key for stewarding the forest”, said Dharsono.

The important role of community in conserving the biodiversity was also jointly agreed by the speakers from both indigenous and religious Communities. Director for Indonesia Conservation Community Warsi, Rudi Syaf raised the importance of going back to local wisdom in restoring the biodiversity. “In the past forest was well managed, because the indigenous community saw it as the source of life”, said Rudi. From Islam perspective, Dr. Hayu Prabowo, Head of Environment and Natural Resources Conservation, Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI) shared that MUI has mobilised the communities and organizations to protect the environment through religious approaches, such to integrate textual doctrine and contextual studies on environment, to inspire and empower local leaders and organizations as well as to mobilise investment and assets supporting the environmental protection. Pastor Jimmy Sormin, Executive Secretary for Testimony and Creature Safety, Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI) also shared that particularly for the last decade, the churches have been very active to promote awareness, behaviour change and concrete actions for the environment sustainability.