Adds details on launch of Indonesia's carbon registry and remarks by UK's special representative for climate
The Indonesian government will issue more than 30mn t of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) of forestry carbon credits on 6 July, forestry minister Raja Juli Antoni said at the Net Zero Delivery Summit 2026 today as part of London Climate Action Week.
"I will issue a ministerial approval and facilitate the issuance of forestry carbon credits exceeding 30mn t CO2e," the minister said, adding that this represented one of the "most significant milestones" in the development of the country's forest carbon markets.
The issuance has been long-awaited from the market, as forestry projects located in Indonesia stopped issuing credits following a government ban in 2022, which was removed late last year.
This is likely to weigh on prices for Indonesian carbon credits generated form forestry projects in the country. Prices for credits generated in 2020 from the Verra-listed Katingan Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) project have fallen from record highs reached in early March, in anticipation of the bulk issuance.
Indonesia will officially launch its national carbon unit registry, SRUK, on 9 July, the minister said. "Our objective is simple — to create an ecosystem where climate ambition can be matched by investor confidence."
The future of carbon markets "will not be determined solely by the volume of credit", but rather by the level of trust these give to investment, mobilisation and the climate and development outcomes that they deliver, he said.
The minister called for strengthening integrity and transparency to allow confidence in carbon credit markets to grow, further developing market infrastructure; liquidity mechanisms and risk-sharing instruments and ensuring that delivered carbon finance benefits on the ground, "particularly for indigenous people or local communities and those who safeguard forests and natural ecosystems".
Indonesia expects its CO2 emissions to peak in 2030 and aims to achieve net zero by 2060 "or sooner".
'Make it work'
Governments and private investors need to "roll up their sleeves" and make carbon markets work, UK special representative for climate Rachel Kyte said at the summit.
"We are in overtime… And I have to tell you that the mood has changed," she said, adding that while governments keep working on making market infrastructure more robust, the message from the private sector is also "less whiny than it used to be", being more pragmatic to solve issues where the carbon market stumbles.
She also stressed the importance of interoperability between permit and carbon credit markets, which is particularly important for emerging markets and developing economies that are trying to build a carbon market framework.
"The UK can announce that we are joining the Open Coalition for the Interoperability of Compliance Markets" in addition to the intergovernmental Coalition to Grow Carbon Markets (CGCM), which the UK established with Kenya and Singapore last year, Kyte said, adding that it was crucial to think how compliance, international markets — such as activity under Article 6 of the Paris agreement — and voluntary carbon markets interoperate.
"Increasingly the pragmatism [for developing economies] is that, if I've got a high integrity credit that I can generate from my mangroves, my seagrasses, my forests, my retired coal plant or whatever it is, then I should be able to set up a framework whereby that credit can be used in the voluntary markets, under Article 6 or in the compliance markets," she said.
In November, the CGCM will publish a playbook which advises governments on the policy instruments they can use to generate the greatest impact in supporting private sector action into carbon markets.
