Exploring how Indonesia’s blue carbon potentials can meet national development agenda and help reach its climate goals

Bogor, Indonesia (26 June 2018): The Blue Carbon Summit will bring together Indonesian policy makers, top national and international scientists, civil society, donors and the media to explore how the country’s blue carbon resources can become part of its agenda to meet its global climate commitments.

The summit is an initiative organized by Indonesian Academy of Sciences (AIPI) in collaboration with the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), and supported by Global Landscape Forum (GLF).

Blue carbon? What’s that? The concept simply refers to the carbon that oceans and coastal ecosystems capture and hold, with coastal habitats sequestering carbon at a much faster rate than forests. By preserving and restoring these ecosystems, we can fully exploit their high potential to reduce and adapt to climate change, which will greatly benefit local communities and economies.

Indonesia’s mangroves (covering about 3 million hectares) and seagrass meadows (about 300,000 ha) are globally important blue carbon ecosystems that can help the country meets its international climate change commitments and maintain its fisheries and marine tourism. The Blue Carbon Summit will take the first steps in building Indonesia’s roadmap for including blue carbon in its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDCs) through the meeting of science and policy.
The Blue Carbon Summit aims to:

• facilitate dialogue across sectors and among stakeholders concerned with blue carbon issues
• identify what prevents Indonesia from mainstreaming its coastal blue carbon in the national development agenda
• outline Indonesia’s roadmap for blue carbon development in line with the upcoming COP24 in Poland and Our Ocean Conference.

The summit will be held on 17-18 July 2018 at the National Library of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia and the two days dedicated to blue carbon development will feature:

• Welcome remarks by HE Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Republic of Indonesia
• Keynote speeches from Professor Satryo Soemantri Brodjonegoro, Chairman of the  Indonesian Academy of Sciences and Robert Nasi, Director General, CIFOR
• Closing remarks by HE Bambang Permadi Soemantri Brodjonegoro, Minister of National Development Planning of Indonesia
• Critical contributions from our speakers, including: Benjamin Brown, IUCN Mangrove Specialist, Marcel Silvius, representative for Global Green Growth Indonesia and Nyoman Suyadiputra, executive director Wetlands International, Indonesia
• Forums for high-level policy makers, donor, civil society and communities
• Discussion forums featuring scientists from multiple disciplines, multi-sectoral practitioners and policy makers who will focus, among others, on Indonesia’s fishing industry and the blue economy, institutional and governance systems for blue carbon, financing solutions and on how coastal ecosystems mitigate climate change.

For more information visits http://events.globallandscapesforum.org/blue-carbon-summit/agenda/
For media enquiries:

• Ms. Alexandra Popescu, Communications Coordinator, GLF. a.popescu@cgiar.org (International media)
• Ms. Budhy Kristanty, Communications Officer, CIFOR. b.kristanty@cgiar.org, +62 8111904283 (Indonesian media)
• Ms. Anggrita, Communications Officer, AIPI. anggrita.dc@gmail.com, +62 818 0812 6605 (Indonesian media)