ASIATODAY.ID, JAKARTA — Indonesia has taken a significant step in advancing its carbon market by enabling the country’s first issuance of forest carbon credits under the internationally recognized Verra standard, following the implementation of new national carbon market regulations.
The milestone marks an important development in Indonesia’s efforts to build a high-integrity carbon market by aligning internationally recognized certification with a nationally regulated carbon governance framework.
The first issuance covers three forestry projects: the Sumatra Merang Peatland Project (ID 1899), the Katingan Peatland Restoration and Conservation Project (ID 1477), and The Mayas Project (ID 3591). Together, the projects are expected to generate 31,659,185 tonnes of Estimated Emission Reductions and Removals (ERRs) during their respective verification periods.
Under Indonesia’s updated regulatory framework, all forestry carbon projects must be registered and approved by the Ministry of Forestry to ensure consistency with the national carbon accounting system and the country’s emissions reduction commitments.
Following regulatory approval, Verra is completing the final process for issuing carbon credits after aligning its project validation and certification procedures with Indonesia’s national carbon governance framework.
Indonesia will also record all issued carbon credits through its Carbon Unit Registry System (SRUK) for national reporting purposes. To strengthen transparency and traceability, Verra, the Ministry of Forestry, and relevant government institutions are developing Application Programming Interface (API) connectivity linking the Verra Registry, SRUK, and IDXCarbon, Indonesia’s carbon exchange. The system is designed to support end-to-end traceability of carbon credits through blockchain technology.
The initiative reflects Indonesia’s broader ambition to maximize the value of its forests and peatlands through high-integrity Nature-based Solutions (NbS) while attracting greater climate finance to support conservation, sustainable development, and local communities.
Director General of Sustainable Forest Management at Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry, Laksmi Wijayanti, said the first issuance of forest carbon credits under the new regulatory framework represents an important milestone in the country’s climate policy.
According to Laksmi, integrating internationally recognized standards with Indonesia’s national oversight system demonstrates that high-integrity carbon markets can deliver measurable emissions reductions while maintaining strong national accountability. She added that collaboration with Verra is expected to accelerate certification of additional Indonesian nature-based projects.
Laksmi said the initiative will also contribute to achieving Indonesia’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement while ensuring that climate finance delivers tangible benefits to local communities and helps conserve the country’s forests and peatlands.
Verra Chief Executive Officer Mandy Rambharos welcomed Indonesia’s progress, saying the country’s governance model supports both the expansion of high-integrity carbon projects and stronger national oversight.
She said combining Verra’s independent certification standards with the transparency of Indonesia’s national registry would strengthen confidence among project developers and carbon credit buyers while helping channel climate finance to communities that protect Indonesia’s forests.
As global demand for high-quality carbon credits continues to grow, Indonesia’s latest regulatory reform is expected to strengthen the country’s position in international carbon markets by providing greater regulatory certainty, improving market transparency, and supporting long-term investment in forest-based climate solutions. (AT Network)
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