Indonesia's village cooperatives may join carbon market: minister

“KDMP can participate if it carries out environmental restoration, which can earn incentives from the carbon market,” Jumhur said in Jakarta on Wednesday.

He said cooperatives generally could also enter the business, allowing more communities to benefit economically from carbon trading.

Jumhur said the proposal reflects Indonesia’s potential as a major provider of environmental services, particularly through forests and mangroves that absorb carbon emissions.

He said cooperatives could manage carbon units generated through the use or restoration of forest and mangrove areas.

Cooperatives could register the carbon units with the National Registry System before trading them in the carbon market, he said.

“They would manage and restore the environment in their areas, then offset the results through carbon trading and register them in the national climate-change registry,” Jumhur said.

The scheme is intended to ensure carbon-trading benefits reach communities, particularly those living in rural and forest areas, he said.

Carbon units managed by cooperatives could be registered with the Carbon Unit Registry, or SRUK, before trading, allowing cooperatives and members to gain direct economic benefits.

The government launched SRUK on July 9, 2026, as a foundation for the national carbon market. The Environment Ministry manages it to record, manage and verify traded carbon units.

The government said SRUK is designed to support transparent, credible and high-integrity carbon trading while preventing double counting of emissions reductions.

SRUK is also designed to connect with Indonesia’s carbon exchange, IDXCarbon, and international carbon registry systems.

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Translator: A.N. Zhafira, Tegar Nurfitra