Strengthening Carbon Trade Governance, Experts Highlight Forestry Minister's Role
Indonesia’s carbon trade governance has entered a crucial phase as the government operationalises the Carbon Unit Registry System (SRUK). The system is projected to become the backbone of a transparent, accountable, and globally integrated carbon trading ecosystem.
SRUK is designed to address a major challenge in the carbon market: certainty in carbon unit recording. Through this system, the government aims to prevent double counting and ensure every carbon project is systematically connected to the Indonesia Carbon Exchange.
The Executive Director of The Reform Initiatives (TRI), Hadi Prayitno, commended the government’s policy of allowing project owners flexibility. He described the decision to permit the use of both international and national registry systems as highly strategic.
“The Indonesian government’s policy choice to give carbon project owners and developers the freedom to use either international or national registry systems is a good choice,” Hadi stated on Saturday (11/7/2026).
This approach is considered more advanced than previous policies that mandated the exclusive use of the national system. Hadi noted that the previous obligation had drawn international criticism because Indonesia was deemed to lack adequate methodology at the time. The current flexibility is seen as enhancing the competitiveness of Indonesia’s carbon trade in the global market.
The SRUK, launched on 9 July 2026, has a core mission to monitor the entire lifecycle of carbon units end-to-end. Hadi stressed that recording through the SRUK is vital for strengthening accountability. “This recording through SRUK is very important to address several issues, namely avoiding double counting, double recording, and connecting with the Indonesia Carbon Exchange,” he explained.
In Indonesia’s climate change mitigation roadmap, the forestry sector plays the most vital role. This is because the largest carbon credit potential lies within Indonesia’s forest ecosystems, ranging from mineral soil forests, peatland hydrological areas, to mangrove forests.
According to the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) document, the forestry sector has the most significant emission reduction target. Therefore, the role of Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni is considered crucial to the successful implementation of the national carbon trade. Any carbon transaction in this sector involving the international market must obtain approval from the Forestry Minister, demonstrating the ministry’s central role in safeguarding national carbon sovereignty.
The success of Indonesia’s carbon trade depends not only on a single system but on synergy between technical ministries. The Forestry Minister and the Environment Minister remain the primary focal points for global climate change control. With the SRUK as a technical instrument and a policy that is more open to international standards, Indonesia is on the right track to becoming a major player in the global carbon market while transparently and accountably fulfilling its climate commitments.