Jakarta (ANTARA) - Deputy Minister of Finance, Suahasil Nazara, has said that the green economy will be one of the focuses of Indonesia's economic policy in the next few years.

"Awareness regarding sustainability will strengthen and become increasingly important in various areas of life," he explained while delivering a public lecture at Lambung Mangkurat University, which was accessed online from Jakarta on Friday.

Nazara said that the government's future policy direction will be focused on creating an economic ecosystem that is environmentally friendly and sustainable. This has been included in one of the strategies for achieving the 2045 Golden Indonesia vision.

He expressed appreciation for the steps taken by the rector of Lambung Mangkurat University, Ahmad Alim Bachri, who has asked for 600 hectares of mangrove forests to be used as a research site as well as for environmental preservation measures.

"With the vision, Lambung Mangkurat University will take care of it (mangroves), make it a place for research, create new knowledge, and disseminate information about mangroves. Why mangroves? Because mangroves are part of a sustainable future economy," Nazara said.

Furthermore, the government's commitment to creating a sustainable economy has also been realized with the launch of the Indonesian Carbon Exchange (IDXCarbon) on Tuesday (September 26, 2023).

At the inauguration of the exchange, President Joko Widodo said that it is Indonesia's real contribution to fighting together with the world against the climate crisis. The trading proceeds will be reinvested in efforts to protect the environment, especially reducing carbon emissions.

In addition, Indonesia is the only country that has around 60 percent potential to reduce carbon emissions from the natural sector. President Widodo noted that there is approximately 1 gigaton of CO2 potential carbon credits that can be captured as well as Rp3 thousand trillion that can be reaped from carbon trading.

Meanwhile, PT Bursa Efek Indonesia (BEI), the organizer of the carbon exchange, pegged the value of carbon unit trading transactions at Rp29.20 billion on the first day of trade on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, speaking to the media in Jakarta on the same day, IDX development director Jeffrey Hendrik said that the total trading volume was recorded at 459,953 TCO2 (tons of carbon units) with a total of 27 transactions.

Meanwhile, the total number of buyers using the service was 15 and there was one seller, namely Pertamina New and Renewable Energy (PNRE), which traded carbon units from the Lahendong Unit 5 and Unit 6 projects of PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy Tbk (PGEO).

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Translator: Bayu Saputra, Cindy Frishanti Octavia
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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