Cooperatives Ministry and Environment Ministry Prepare Cooperatives for Carbon Trading

The Cooperatives Ministry and the Environment Ministry have signed a cooperation agreement to encourage the involvement of cooperatives in environmental management, including carbon trading.

“The Environment Minister also encouraged us to get involved in the carbon trading process, so that it can become a new business for cooperative activities in Indonesia,” said Cooperatives Minister Ferry Juliantono at the Cooperatives Ministry office in Jakarta on Thursday.

According to Ferry, the recent inauguration of a crude palm oil (CPO) processing plant managed by the Koperasi Unit Desa (KUD) Sejahtera was one of the considerations for getting cooperatives more deeply involved in the carbon business.

“Yesterday we just inaugurated a CPO plant owned by a cooperative, and many cooperatives across the regions are involved in managing oil palm plantations. That was also one of the points raised by the Environment Minister,” Ferry explained.

Environment Minister Mohammad Jumhur Hidayat added that cooperatives are one of President Prabowo Subianto’s priorities for supporting the realisation of a people’s economy.

He explained that the collaboration with the Cooperatives Ministry is one form of the Environment Ministry’s participation in efforts to achieve that mission. In this context, the cooperation between the two parties prepares cooperative businesses to enter carbon trading.

“Because high-integrity carbon trading can only happen if the proceeds from the sale of carbon units are truly felt by the local or grassroots communities,” he said.

Meanwhile, businesses must be run by legal entities, a role that cooperatives can fill. “So, the instrument already exists. Therefore, we complement each other, educating at the grassroots level so that the carbon trading process is no longer enjoyed only by elite groups, because the value could reach tens of trillions,” said the Environment Minister.

In general, this cooperation also includes literacy support from the Environment Ministry so that cooperative businesses have adequate knowledge about sustainable management and aspects that comply with environmental norms.

Cooperatives are also encouraged to get involved in instruments that can support the Environment Ministry’s programmes, such as waste and refuse management that can be carried out in a circular or modern manner.