23 June 2021 | Tri Hita Karana Climate Forum (Cloud): “Aligning for Climate Action on Road to Net Zero Carbon Emission”

The Tri Hita Karana (THK) high-level Climate Forum on “Aligning for Climate Action on Road to Net Zero Carbon Emission”, which was held virtually  on 23 June at 7pm to 9.30pm Jakarta, was co-hosted by H.E Luhut B. Pandjaitan, Coordinating Minister of Maritime and Investment Affairs of Republic of Indonesia,  The Honorable John Kerry, the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate of the United States of America and H.E. Airlangga Hartarto, Coordinating Minister of Economic Affairs of Republic of Indonesia. The event demonstrated Indonesia and the US’s intention to work inclusively and collaboratively with other countries and tri-sectors on green and blended finance, on technology and capacity building to limit global warming to 1.5C through jointly combating climate crisis.

The high-level THK Climate Forum had over 350 participants from the public and private sectors, development agencies, multilateral development banks, financial institutions, international organisations, think tanks and civil society across 17 countries from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Philippines, Singapore, Switzerland, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States.

H.E Luhut Pandjaitan, Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs said at the opening remarks “We are grateful for the Biden administration’s focus on climate. The Government of Indonesia has already shown international leadership in this area through our commitment to protect one of the world’s largest intact rainforests, and some of the largest stocks of CO2-rich tropical peatland and mangrove. We stand ready to do more to tackle the climate crisis the world is facing, and welcome the opportunity to collaborate with the US government and private sector to make the transition to a low-carbon economy.”

The Honorable John Kerry, the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate of the United States of America said at the opening remarks “I think that this is an opportunity for us to work together. We are working with Minister Luhut to help bring finance to the table. That will facilitate our ability to deploy renewable, to create new partnerships, to be able to bring technology to the table, and help Indonesia to be able to do what I know it wants to do and President Jokowi wants to do, which is move to the future to this new economy, where we’re better balance with nature itself.”

Keynote speaker at the Plenary session 1, Jeffrey Sachs, President, United Nation Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) said, “And so this is our goal, in my opinion at Bali one, the summit next year of the G20. I can’t think of a better host of the summit than Indonesia to represent the interests of the developing world, in partnership with all of the world. The partnership of Indonesia and the United States in this year as it’s being forged with Secretary Kerry, our finest statesman in the United States, and Minister Luhut between President Jokowi and President Biden, this is a key pillar for global cooperation. Let’s leverage this into a key pillar for solutions.”

Mari Pangestu, Managing Director, World Bank Group who moderated the Plenary 1 session said “World Bank is ready to support developing countries like Indonesia, on this journey together with partners, like the US Indonesia partnership … we are we have committed 35% of our financing for climate finance, and at least 50% for adaptation and resilience.”

The event comprised plenary sessions with ministerial and keynote speakers’ addresses and two concurrent deep-dive sessions featuring innovative financing and decarbonization initiatives to support net zero transition. The two Deep Dives sessions are: Deep Dive Discussion 1: THK Center for Future Knowledge on “Technology and Innovation for Climate Action” – Scaling technology and innovation for a sustainable and equitable development model. The Session will feature tech projects and initiatives that scale climate actions. Deep Dive Discussion 2: Global Blended Finance and Innovation Institute (BFI) on “Natural Capital Carbon Communities (NCCC) Market Place” – Development of a new multilateral BFI inviting US, EU, China, et al global partners to join and envisioning the NCCC alliance and Market Place for a regional climate ambition with inclusive and innovative financing toward a just net zero transition in the region. The Session featured innovative financial solutions for funding SDGs and climate action.

Announcement of several key initiatives were made at the event. The most notable of these announcements is the US endorsement to support the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and Indonesia’s State-Owned energy company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), on the massive blended finance Energy Transition Mechanism of early coal plant retirement proposed by WEF SDIP. The other key announcement includes the creation of the world’s largest technology and engineering body, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers’ (IEEE) new initiative: “Engineers Unite in Diversity,” meant to galvanize scientists and engineers to expand collaboration and drive action in support of the transition to a low-carbon economy, as well as the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in both Indonesia and the broader Southeast Asian region.

Prominent speakers and partners who attended includes THK Co-host H.E. Airlangga Hartarto, Coordinating Minister of Economic Affairs, H.E. Suharso Monoarfa Minister of National Development Planning, H.E. Arifin Tasrif Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Wimboh Santoso, Chairman Indonesia Financial Services Authority, H.E. Mahendra Siregar, Vice Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Alue Dohong, Vice Minister, Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Mari Pangestu, Managing Director of Development Policy and Partnerships, World Bank, Satu Kahkonen Country Director Indonesia World Bank, Reed Schuler Senior Advisor to the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, Larry McDonald Assistant Secretary U.S. Department, John Morton Climate Counselor U.S. Treasury Department, Prof Robert Kaplan, Senior fellow and the Marvin Bower Professor of Leadership Development, Emeritus, Harvard Business School, Alfred Scheidegger Chairman Nextech Invest, Darmawan Prasodjo Vice President Director PLN, Dato Lim Jock Hoi Secretary General of ASEAN and Haje Schutte, Senior Counsellor and Head, Financing for Sustainable Development Division, OECD. The event also featured millennial and indigenous voices from Dyah Roro Esti, the youngest elected Member of Parliament, Member of the 7th Commission, Member Commission for Energy from the House of Representatives Indonesia, and Meiliane Osok, a West Papuan Fellow of United In Diversity Foundation’s Youth Action Forum and UN SDSN SEA who recited IMAGINE poem.

Dato Lim Jock Hoi, Secretary-General of ASEAN said the at Deep Dive Session 2 ““Climate change is a pressing issue for ASEAN, and we recognize the importance of nature based solutions and the key role preservation of natural capital has for climate action. It’s important we strengthen our work on climate, and as we start rebuilding our economies after COVID-19 we have an opportunity to build a greener, cleaner and more sustainable future.”

 The Honorable John Kerry, the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate of the United States of America at the post event tweeted “Minister Luhut of Indonesia and I want to make the world a better place for our grandkids. Thank you to the THK Climate Forum for the conversation today on how we can cooperate to accelerate climate action.”

For more information, please click https://www.thkforum.org/thk-high-level-climate-forum-announceables/