Emerging economy poised to submit action plan to the UN that will aim to cut emissions by 29 per cent against business-as-usual levels by 2030
Indonesia is poised to become the latest major economy to submit a climate action plan ahead of December's Paris climate change summit, with reports suggesting the government will pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 29 per cent by 2030 against business-as-usual levels.
The Guardian today reported the emerging economic power is to formally publish its climate action plan, known as an Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) in the UN jargon, making it the latest large economy to put forward official emissions reduction targets.
The government is expected to say it will not only cut emissions by 29 per cent by 2030 against business-as-usual (BAU) levels, but could upgrade this target to 41 per cent if it receives up to $6bn of climate finance from industrialised nations.
The plan will be welcomed as further evidence that one of the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases is prepared to step up investment in clean energy and strengthen efforts to tackle deforestation in the country.
However, leading green think tank the World Resources Institute warned that the country's INDC was vague about precisely how the Indonesian government will calculate the business-as-usual baseline it will measure emissions reductions against.
The news came as Equatorial Guinea and Grenada became the latest nations to formally submit their INDCs to the UN, taking to 65 the number of countries to put forward official emissions reduction and climate adaptation plans.
Equatorial Guinea said it aimed to reduce emissions 20 per cent by 2030, relative to 2010 levels, as part of long-running efforts to achieve a 50 per cent reduction by 2050.
Meanwhile, Grenada became the latest island state to put forward ambitious plans, pledging to cut emissions by 30 per cent against 2010 levels by 2025, on course to a 40 per cent reduction by 2030.
The country's government said delivering on the plan would cost around $161m through to 2025 and it "anticipates meeting these costs through access to multilateral and bilateral support including through the Green Climate Fund, multilateral agencies and bilateral arrangements with development partners".
It added that the main mechanism for meeting the target would be the country's National Energy Policy, which aims to deliver a "dynamic incentive regime" for mobilising investment in clean energy capacity.
"A combination of actions already planned and national contribution actions will result in a reduction of Grenada's greenhouse gas emissions by almost 50 per cent of projected BAU by 2025," the INDC stated. "These include a tax reduction incentive for use of solar panels and solar water heaters, installation of more energy efficient lightbulbs in some government buildings. Grenada's new electricity regulations and act, to be completed by end of 2015 for implementation, would open the door to allow new interest in renewable energy and energy efficiency methodologies in Grenada."
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