Here are the climate-related sections of speeches by MPs during the Commons debate Environmental Sustainability: UK-Indonesia Collaboration.
14:31 Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat)
I thank the hon. Member for bringing forward this important debate. As she is setting out, peatlands store more carbon than all the world’s forests combined, whether that be on the Somerset levels in my constituency or in the rainforests of Borneo, and their destruction accelerates the climate crisis. Does she agree that, rather than cutting climate funding, the Government should be investing in bilateral peatland partnerships, sharing our British expertise to protect these irreplaceable global carbon stores?
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14:32 Kerry McCarthy (Labour)
I will come on to the question of climate finance later, but I will say that we are in a world in which public money is under severe constraints. The USA, for example, has pulled out of its commitments under COP. I want to see a lot more done to use public money, and philanthropic money, as a catalyst to leverage in far more private sector funding, including through things such as the voluntary carbon and nature markets, so that we can get that finance into protecting our forests, our peatlands and, indeed, our marine environment, which I will touch on a bit later as well.
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14:44 Kerry McCarthy (Labour)
At COP29 in Baku in 2024, we pledged £239 million to halt and reverse deforestation in forest-rich nations that act as critical carbon sinks, including Indonesia. The measures included £188 million for high-integrity forest carbon markets, £48 million for blended finance for forest programmes to attract private investment and £3 million for the United Nations framework convention on climate change to support communities to benefit from forest restoration.
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14:48 Kerry McCarthy (Labour)
This was going to be the point at which I called out the Government for not making more progress with our legislation on forest risk commodities. I was going to say that we cannot have any credibility on the global stage in co-chairing initiatives such as the FACT—forest, agriculture and commodity trade—dialogue or the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership, which we co-chair with Guyana, if we are not prepared to take steps to stamp out deforestation in our own supply chains.
During my time as Climate Minister, I spoke often to the Minister for Nature and the FCDO Minister responsible for international development, as well as to our two excellent envoys for climate and nature—Rachel Kyte and Ruth Davis—about this issue. I also pay tribute to the team in the international forest unit, which spans the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the FCDO, who were great to work with.
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14:52 Kerry McCarthy (Labour)
Indonesia has a huge amount to offer investors, and I know they are looking to the UK to help them; in fact, just after I was in the country last year, the climate envoy arrived at the embassy to run some workshops on voluntary carbon and nature markets and how Indonesia could work with the UK on those. We are rightly seen as leaders, not least because London is one of the global financial capitals of the world. At COP29, I was proud to launch our six principles for voluntary carbon and nature market integrity, and last year we used London Climate Action Week to launch the Coalition to Grow Carbon Markets, which we co-chair alongside Kenya and Singapore.
However, I am somewhat concerned by the lack of progress since then. There was a Department for Energy Security and Net Zero consultation that closed nearly a year ago on 10 July. I have been trying to chase that up, and I gather that around 200 responses have been published, but the recommendations have yet to come forward. Maybe that is being saved up for London Climate Action Week; I very much hope it is, because I think the eyes of the world are on us to make this blended finance happen.
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15:14 Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat)
The UK-Indonesia relationship is at a crucial point. In January, our Government signed a strategic partnership, committing to stronger ties on climate and nature and recognising that, despite our differences, we share a particular vulnerability to climate change as island nations. The Liberal Democrats welcome that partnership warmly and would like to see it deepened. That requires the UK to show up as a serious partner, not just in words, but in the consistency of our commitments.
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15:25 Andrew Snowden (Conservative)
Although Indonesia has the largest economy in south-east Asia, it ranks only 17th in the world by GDP according to the International Monetary Fund. Despite that, Indonesia is consistently among the top 10 carbon dioxide-emitting nations; indeed, the FCDO has estimated that it is the fifth-highest carbon-emitting country. The Indonesian Government aspire to reach net zero by 2060. By 2030, they aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 31.89% through national efforts and by 43.2% with international support. Those are significant ambitions, but the gap between aspiration and delivery is wide. Can the Minister set out what independent assessment the Government have made of whether Indonesia is currently on track to meet its 2030 targets, and what conditionality—if any—is attached to UK commitments?
Finally, the scale of the investment being discussed today is substantial. British International Investment has committed £308 million in climate finance across south-east Asia until 2031, including a rooftop solar programme that aims to produce 600 MW of energy by 2028. The World Bank, which the UK contributes to, is providing $500 million to Indonesia’s electricity network transformation programme. What assessment have the UK Government made of value for money across the totality of UK investments in this relationship, and how are outcomes being measured and reported back to Parliament?
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15:32 Seema Malhotra (Labour)
There is a very strong interest in this House in how we tackle climate change and protect nature, and in how we work with partners around the world to do so. With Indonesia, the core of our partnership is focused on climate, nature and energy co-operation. It is also important to say up front that Indonesia is pivotal to global outcomes on climate and nature for the reasons that we have heard today, including the scale of its rainforests and biodiversity. Indeed, its actions on energy, forests and oceans will help to tackle similar challenges across the world.
As a G20 economy and a leading voice in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Indonesia has influence well beyond its region. Its economy has long depended on sectors such as coal and palm oil, and like many countries it faces difficult choices as it seeks to balance growth with environmental protection. At the same time, Indonesia has committed to reducing emissions and is taking steps on forest protection, clean energy and climate finance. This Government are clear that global challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss can be tackled only through partnership, because no country can do this alone.
Threats to Indonesia’s maritime environments include pollution; illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing practices; and warming waters linked to climate change. The UK and Indonesia continue to work closely with each other through the Blue Planet fund country plan. We are proud to partner with Indonesia through that fund and the maritime partnership programme. A number of hon. Members referred to the maritime challenges, and it is important to keep that focus in our debate.
We are now taking that important ambition forward in practical ways. For example, we are supporting efforts to protect forests and tackle deforestation, including in supply chains such as palm oil. We are backing Indonesia’s energy transition, including through a just energy transition partnership. We are committed to providing a guarantee to unlock $1 billion of additional climate finance from the World Bank to support the energy transition. That is important because we know that Indonesia has to fill a significant climate finance gap to meet its mitigations and adaptation goals.
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