Forest Carbon Minister Regulation Aims to Strengthen Forest and Community Protection
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Several civil society organisations are pushing for stronger environmental protection, transparency, and public participation in the implementation of the Minister of Forestry Regulation (Permenhut) Number 6 of 2026 concerning the procedures for carbon trading through greenhouse gas (GHG) emission offsets in the forestry sector, to ensure that the policy is implemented accountably and supports national emission reduction targets.
“The regulation governs the complaint process, from receipt to resolution. However, it does not explain the form of decisions, corrective actions, or concrete follow-up measures that the government can take regarding complaints that have been proven,” said Head of the Forestry and Biodiversity Division of the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL), Adam Putra F, in a press release in Jakarta, Friday.
Permenhut Number 6 of 2026 regulates the procedures for carbon trading through GHG emission offsets in the forestry sector. The Minister of Forestry, Raja Juli Antoni, stated that the regulation was issued to ensure that the community can benefit economically from carbon while strengthening the forestry sector’s contribution to emission reduction targets.
ICEL views the technical arrangement as an important step, but it needs to be followed by strengthening the implementation aspects so that the protection principles contained in the regulation do not stop at normative recognition.
ICEL notes three things that need to be considered. First, the aspects of law enforcement and accountability need to be strengthened so that the complaint mechanism is not only administrative but also produces certainty of follow-up and recovery.
Second, public information disclosure needs to be further expanded. Adam said the regulation states that carbon trading information must be available and accessible to the public, but it does not detail what types of information must be disclosed and the mechanism for providing it.
“The regulation only states that it refers to the Law on Public Information Disclosure. As a result, important information may still be classified as excluded information, as is still often the case in current forestry governance,” he said.
Third, ICEL believes that the space for public participation in the carbon project approval process still needs to be strengthened. In the submission of recommendations for the issuance of Emission Reduction Certificates (SPE-GRK), business actors are required to submit documents such as an Environmental Impact Analysis (AMDAL), the results of public consultations, and plans and achievements of approval based on free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC).
According to ICEL, affected communities need to be given more adequate space to test, object to, or raise concerns about the information submitted, so that the approval process is transparent and can prevent potential social conflicts and greenwashing practices.
Trend Asia’s Bioenergy Program Manager, Amalya Reza, added that carbon trading needs to be carried out by ensuring that the interests of local and indigenous communities are protected.
“Communities will be forced to depend on registered partners. This has the potential to place corporations as the main controllers of carbon trading in both customary forest and state forest areas,” said Amalya.
She also reminded that the emission offset mechanism needs to be placed as a complement to a broader climate strategy, including efforts to stop deforestation, protect remaining natural forests, and encourage the energy transition.
In its 2022 report, Trend Asia stated that the co-firing of biomass in 52 locations of steam power plants (PLTU) has the potential to create a need for around 2.33 million hectares of land for the development of energy plantations and can increase emissions by up to 26.48 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year if not managed carefully.
The civil society organisation hopes that the latest Permenhut can be implemented with strong supervision, information disclosure, and protection of community rights so that carbon trading in the forestry sector truly benefits the environment and the community.