Jakarta — Indonesia’s national carbon registry system (SRN) must urgently strengthen its technical standards, digital infrastructure, and institutional coordination if it is to gain global recognition and unlock the country’s vast forestry carbon market potential, according to a recent study.
The research—“Advancing Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) between Indonesia’s SRN and International Standards to Expand Forestry Carbon Credits in VCMs”— published in Trees, Forests and People, on September 15, 2025, finds that establishing MRAs between Indonesia’s SRN and major international standards such as Verra, Gold Standard, and ART-TREES is key to aligning the country’s carbon governance with global norms.
The authors conclude that MRAs could transform Indonesia’s forestry carbon credits into credible global assets by enabling “dual certification” and registry interoperability, while maintaining national sovereignty over carbon assets.
Lead author Riko Wahyudi and his colleagues from the University of Indonesia and the Indonesia Climate Change and Forestry Experts (APIK Indonesia) Network emphasise that the success of Indonesia’s carbon market hinges on “adaptive learning through pilot projects, transparent governance, and sustained stakeholder engagement.”
If implemented effectively, the study concludes, MRAs could make Indonesia not only a credible supplier of forestry carbon credits but also a regional leader in integrating national climate policy with international carbon market mechanisms.
Main findings
The paper underscores that while the Sistem Registrasi Nasional (SRN) plays a vital role in Indonesia’s climate commitments, it remains technically underdeveloped and institutionally fragmented. The study finds that SRN’s methodological framework remains limited to broad principles without detailed operational tools, leading to inconsistent verification across projects. Its validation and verification (V&V) system focuses more on administrative completeness than on scientific rigour, weakening overall credibility.
On the digital front, the registry lacks the capacity to support cross-border data exchange or interoperability with international systems like Verra. Institutional coordination is also uneven: following the restructuring that split the Environment and Forestry ministries, regulatory responsibilities have become blurred. At the subnational level, readiness remains minimal, with only East Kalimantan and Jambi developing provincial baselines suitable for jurisdictional crediting.
Despite these constraints, stakeholders—ranging from government officials to private developers and NGOs—view MRAs as a strategic pathway to restore market confidence and open access to voluntary carbon markets (VCMs).
Policy recommendations
To accelerate Indonesia’s readiness for international carbon market integration, the study outlines five priority actions. It calls for pilot projects under international standards such as Verra, Gold Standard, and ART-TREES, with dual validation through the SRN to test alignment of methodologies and ensure registry interoperability. The authors stress the need to clarify institutional mandates between the Ministry of Environment (MoE) and the Ministry of Forestry (MoF) to avoid regulatory overlap and confusion.
The study also recommend creating incentive mechanisms, including lower levies and fast-track verification processes, to attract high-quality projects to register under the national system. Strengthening subnational and community engagement is another key priority—this means involving local governments, customary (adat) communities, and embedding social safeguards within the MRAs. Finally, the study urges the inclusion of private-sector participation in MRA governance and policy-making, ensuring that efficiency, innovation, and market competitiveness become integral to Indonesia’s carbon governance framework.
On October 10, 2025, President Prabowo Subianto signed Presidential Regulation No. 110 of 2025 on the Implementation of the Carbon Economic Value Instrument and National Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emission Control, that aims to clarify rules, enhance digital infrastructure, and accelerate the country’s integration with international carbon markets. The government says the aim of this regulation is to simplify regulations that have been considered complicated and difficult to implement. (nsh)
Banner photo: Image generated by OpenAI’s DALL·E via ChatGPT (2024)
