Indonesia, Finland want to cooperates in renewable energy

Antara News, Tue, January 24 2012

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• RI-Finland agree to strengthen trade, investment relations
• BI: RI`s economy to grow 6.5% in q1

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia and Finland have underscored the importance of renewable energy cooperation between the two countries in the framework of their Energy and Environment Partnership (EEP), Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa said here on Tuesday.

Speaking to the press after a bilateral meeting with visiting Finnish European Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Alexander Stubb, Marty said they discussed the importance of the two countries` renewable energy cooperation.

"Besides, Indonesia and Finland also agreed to enhance trade and investment relations between the two countries," Marty said, adding that the two countries had signed their EEP accord on February 14, 2011.

Marty said the EEP program was intended to reduce green house gas emissions and the impact of climate change by way of providing modern energy that was easily accessible and reliable in rural areas and usable in the industrial sector.

To make the program a success, the Finnish government had extended a 4-million-euro grant to the Indonesian government to promote renewable energy, energy efficiency, and investment in clean energy technology.

"In addition, Indonesia has also asked for Finland`s support for its Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia`s Economic Development (MP3EI)," Marty said.

Meanwhile, Alexander Stubb said the two countries cooperation in various fields had great potential to be improved.

"This is so because besides its strong economic development, Indonesia is also a member of G-20," Stubb said.

He added that Finland was very much dependent on its trade sector which accounted for 40 percent of the country`s gross domestic product (GDP).

"But the contribution of our exports (to GDP) is only 0.2 percent and therefore Finland wants to step up cooperation with Indonesia whose exports accont for 25 percent of GDP ," Stubb said.

Accompanied by a 30-strong business delegation, Stubb had come to Indonesia to step up trade and investment relations with Indonesia.

Editor: Suryanto

Indonesia, Finland sign agreement to promote renewable energy

Rangga D. Fadillah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 02/14/2011

Indonesia and Finland signed an agreement to start a bilateral program to promote the utilization of wood-based biomass and agricultural residues as renewable energy sources in Central Kalimantan and Riau province on Monday.

The Ambassador of Finland to Indonesia, Kai Sauer, said that the program, which is called the Energy and Environment Partnership (EEP), aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change by providing modern, accessible and reliable services in rural areas and industrial applications.

“This program is a manifestation of our commitment to develop the two nations relations through concrete programs,” he told reporters at a press conference held after the agreement signing ceremony in Jakarta.

He continued that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland has granted EUR 4 million (Rp 48 billion) to Indonesia to run the program for the period of 2011 to 2014. The funds would be used to sponsor feasibility studies, demonstrations and pilot projects.

“Project proposals are expected to come from actors representing public and private sectors like local administrations, non-governmental organizations, universities and research institutes,” said Ambassador Sauer.

Finland to fund sustainable energy from forests in Indonesia

Reuters, By Chris White, JAKARTA | Fri Dec 10, 2010

An aerial view of deforestation at Indonesia's Sumatra island, August 5, 2010.
(Credit: Reuters/Beawiharta)

(Reuters) - Finland is aiming to set up an scheme to produce renewable biomass energy from Indonesian forests next year, following in the footsteps of a lauded Norwegian agreement to tackle Indonesia's high deforestation.

Finland's scheme, with initial investment of four million euros, is small compared to the $1 billion pledged by Norway, but is a sign more countries may look to do bilateral deals if U.N. talks in Cancun fail to produce a global climate pact.

Australia said on Thursday it would increase its spending on climate change financing by giving Indonesia an additional $45 million for projects to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) and for climate change adaption.

Protecting forests is seen by some as the easiest and cheapest option in the fight against climate change. The Finnish project aims to support the forestry industry turn toward renewable energy production.

"The focus will be on the utilization of forest biomass and the residues of the wood processing industry as renewable energy sources," Päivi Alatalo, the deputy head of the Finnish embassy in Indonesia, told Reuters.

The projects are to be established in the regions of central Kalimantan on Borneo island and Riau province on Sumatra island, areas that have seen intense deforestation in recent years by timber and palm oil firms, both legally and illegally.

Indonesia has been pushing on the global stage for greater support in its efforts to reduce the costs of deforestation, though environment minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta rejected a proposal by Japan in Cancun this week that developing nations agree to legally binding targets to reduce emissions.

Indonesia has promised to slash its emissions by at least 26 percent from business as usual levels by 2020 but President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has also vowed to boost economic growth to 7 percent or more by 2014, with development of resources from palm oil to coal helping drive the economy.

Other big developing nations have rejected binding targets for a climate deal that developed nations want before they sign up to a pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol, in a rich-poor rift that has haunted the talks to agree a new global climate deal.

"Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, which accounts for 18 per cent of global emissions and more than 60 percent of Indonesia's total emissions in 2005, is critical to achieving a global outcome on climate change," said Australian foreign minister Kevin Rudd in a statement.

So far over $4 billion has been pledged to help Indonesia tackle deforestation from rich nations, including from the United States, Norway, Japan and now Finland.

However, the Indonesian government still faces numerous difficulties, such as lobbying by firms profiting from deforestation, competing vested interests within the forestry industry, weak governance and top-heavy bureaucracy, that is slowing the pace of action.

Norway's scheme, which proposes a two-year moratorium on new permits to clear natural forest, is meant to start in January but details of how it will work have still not been finalized.

"No projects have been finalized yet because we are still in the process of making a bilateral contract between Finland and Indonesia," said Finland's Alatalo. "But we are hoping that we will get this agreement finalized soon."

(Editing by Neil Chatterjee and Miral Fahmy)

Paper giant to withdraw from Indonesia rainforest destruction

www.chinaview.cn 2009-11-13 20:33:28

JAKARTA, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Finnish global paper giant UPM-Kymmene planned to stop purchasing pulp from Asia Pacific Resources International Holding Limited (APRIL), which has involved in rainforest destruction in Riau province of Indonesia, Green peace said here Friday.

The decision comes following a move by dozens of Green peace activists from around the world who chained themselves to escavators in a logged peat land forest the province, demanding the United States to take more actions to end deforestation. The activists are now being detained by the police.

Greenpeace campaigner for Southeast Asia Bustar Maitar said that UPM, which supplies products like photocopy paper to global markets including the United States, China, Europe and Australia, admitted that APRIL's pulp "comes from a very delicate environment."

"It is reported that the firm would begin to cancel its contract with APRIL," Maitar told Xinhua over phone.

"The plan indicated a very positive move by UPM to help protect Indonesia's rainforests and carbon rich peatlands, the destruction of which leads to climate change, mass species extinction and causing poverty in forest dependent communities," he added.

"If international companies start distancing themselves from this environmental disaster, the call to end global deforestation here and around the globe will only get louder and louder."

Greenpeace estimates the contract to be equal to over 4 percent of APRIL's total pulp production, worth over 55 million U.S. dollars annually.

The campaigner said that APRIL had involved in forest destruction as the firm still had not licencing completely and operating at the peatland area in which its depth was more than 3 meters.

Besides, the firm had started operation before completing assessment of the location of the highly conservative forest.

"This is illegal under Indonesian law," said Maitar.

Editor: Lin Zhi

Related Article:

Indonesian forest on frontline of climate debate

Nokia Siemens wins network deal in Indonesia

Reuters, Mon Mar 16, 2009 2:47am EDT  

HELSINKI, March 16 (Reuters) - Nokia Siemens Networks [NSN.UL] said on Monday it had won an order from Indonesian mobile operator Telkomsel to expand network coverage, boost capacity and improve performance. Financial details of the deal -- similar to the one the operator signed with Ericsson (ERICb.ST) earlier this month [ID:nWEA0584] -- were not disclosed. 

The deal between Telkomsel and Nokia Siemens Networks, covers the supply, deployment and integration of 3G radio access networks as well as 2G business support system and services solutions, Nokia Siemens said. 

"This year, by collaborating with various network vendors, Telkomsel will deploy 4,000 new base stations, with a total investment of $1.5 billion," Telkomsel's Chief Executive Sarwoto Atmosutarno said in a statement. (Reporting by Tarmo Virki)

Indonesia, Finland to cooperate in fighting global warming

Depok, W Java, (ANTARA News) - Indonesia and Finland cooperate to fight global warming by planting trees in a forest within the area of the University of Indonesia (UI) in Depok, West Java, a statement recieved here Sunday. 

"The activity will be held on Monday, September 22. Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo, Finnish Ambassador to Indonesia Antti Koistinen and UI rector Gumilar Rusliwa Somantri are scheduled to take part in the activity," an official of Findland`s Embassy in Jakarta Ivan Alidjaja said. 

The activity, according to Alidjaja, is part of Planting Tree Global Day 2008--an event which will take place for 24 hours, starting from Tonga Island following the sun movement, trees will be planted in Asia, Europe, Africa and America. 

"Up to this moment, more than 1,100 schools in 13 countries had registered and committed to plant 300,000 plants. In this 2008 program, Indonesia will participate for the first time," Alidjaja said. 

"The aim of the program is to increase people`s awareness of environmental issues and affirmed the importance of trees to fight global warming," he explained, adding the activity is also a symbol of Indonesia-Findland cooperation in forestry and education. 

By the tree planting program in UI, Alidjaja added, Indonesia will take part in efforts to reach at least 1 million trees by the end of 2008. 

"The long-term goal of the program is to plant 100 million trees all around the world before 2017," Alidjaja said.

WB launches financing for forest-saving scheme

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali

The World Bank launched Tuesday a US$160 million financing scheme to provide incentives to developing countries that protect their forests.

Called the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), the scheme aims to reduce deforestation and forest degradation by compensating developing countries for carbon dioxide reductions realized by maintaining their forests.

"The focus will be on indigenous people dependent on forests," said World Bank President Robert Zoellick.

The money is provided by nine wealthy countries. Germany has committed US$59 million, the United Kingdom US$30 million, the Netherlands US$22 million, Australia and Japan US$10 million each, France and Switzerland US$7 million each, Denmark and Finland US$5 million each.

In addition, the U.S.-based The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has committed US$5 million to the scheme.

The World Bank and some of the international ministers present highlighted the importance of consultation with indigenous people before a projects starts.

"We must ensure protection of the rights of the indigenous people," said Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, Germany's federal minister for economic cooperation and development.

"Under the terms of the facility, governments will ensure that indigenous people dependent on forests, as well as other forest dwellers, will be meaningfully consulted during the drafting of their country's Readiness Plan and REDD Strategy, and benefit from capacity building," Zoellick said.

Thirty countries from Latin America, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region have requested an opportunity to participate, Zoellick said.

The FCPF will have two mechanisms. First is the "readiness mechanism" that will assist approximately 20 countries in preparing themselves to participate in a future, large-scale, system of positive incentives for REDD (reduce emissions from avoided Deforestation and forest degradation), a scheme proposed by 11 countries with large tracts of forest, including Indonesia.

The second is the "carbon finance mechanism", which will enable an initial group of these countries that will have successfully participated in the Readiness Mechanism to pilot incentive payments for REDD.

Dozens of activists from environmental groups like Friends of the Earth, the Indonesian Forum for the Environment and Global Forest Coalition, staged a protest outside the conference room where the launch took place.

They said the inclusion of forests in the carbon market would not help improve the climate and instead would only deprive forest dwellers of their rights.

"Carbon finance mechanisms in developing countries result in forests being transferred or sold to large corporations which hope to acquire profitable 'carbon credits' associated with those forests at some point in the future," World Rainforest Movement spokesperson Ana Filipini said.

The activists also said that past projects involving indigenous people in the forest carbon market had been guided by unfair contracts.

"Forest people in Uganda who got a reforestation project, for example, they were under the impression that it was a charity; they didn't ask for details in the contract," said Juta Kill from the European Union Forest Campaign.

She said the contract was so unfair that the indigenous people ended up buried in debt to replace several dead trees.

MobileMonday to set up RI branch

The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA: Finland-based non-profit global mobile phone forum MobileMonday has established a chapter in Indonesia to support local entrepreneurs to break into the international market.

MobileMonday CEO Jari Tammisto told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that besides mobile communications entrepreneurs, MobileMonday Indonesia was also open to ordinary people who were interested in information and communications technology. They could join by signing up at www.id-mobilemonday.com.

"The main idea of the forum is to help mobile communications entrepreneurs and technology fans to get to know each other, and to promote the local mobile industry," he said, adding that the forum was sponsored by cellular phone manufacturer Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks and local television station MetroTV.

Tammisto said the forum would hold regular meetings on the first Monday of every month, where participants could share knowledge and ideas, as well as promote their businesses domestically and internationally. (JP/nkn)

Neste to spend $814m for Singapore biofuel plant

Gulf Daily News

HELSINKI: Finland's Neste Oil yesterday said it would spend 550 million euros ($814m) to build the world's largest biodiesel plant in Singapore to meet the growing but controversial demand for biofuels. Neste, which last year supplied about 14m tonnes of conventional fuel products, said the plant would have a design capacity of 800,000 tonnes a year, and use mostly palm oil as its raw material. "The investment forms part of Neste Oil's strategic goal of becoming the world's leading renewable diesel producer," the firm said.

The use of biofuels made from crops such as maize, sugarcane and vegetable oils is expected to rise rapidly in developed economies and is seen by many as a way to cut emissions of greenhouse gases and provide an alternative fuel source to crude oil, which has been pushing $100 a barrel this year.

Some environmentalists, however, dispute the greenhouse gas emissions benefits of biofuels and are alarmed by deforestation to increase palm oil output and the effect on food prices of the additional demand.

Earlier, Environmental group Greenpeace tried to prevent a tanker bringing palm oil to Neste's first biodiesel plant, which started earlier this year and is running at full capacity of 170,000 tonnes, in Porvoo, Finland. Neste's second biodiesel unit is due to start operations in 2009.

Construction of the plant in Singapore, which is close to major palm oil producers Malaysia and Indonesia, will begin in the first half of next year, with completion due by the end of 2010.

Indonesia to build peat land powered electric generators

Xinhua

Indonesia plans to build power plants powered by peat land in West Kalimantan province with the capacity of 60 megawatts, the governor of the province said on Wednesday.

At a press conference after meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla, Governor Usman Jafar said that the project was expected to be complete at the beginning of 2008.

He said experts from Finland, which has long experienced using such technology, would be involved to handle the projects.

"We plan to build two (projects, each with capacity of) 30 megawatts, generated by peat land," said Jafar.

The governor revealed that the province has huge potential of the peat land, and in one regency of Pontianak, it has capacity of the peat land of 2.5 millions meter cubic in 100,000 hectares.

The investor of the projects is the Sebukit Power Corp., he said.

In addition, the governor said four other projects, establishing coal-powered electric generators as part of the government plan of building 10,000 megawatt power plants, would also be delivered in 2008.

He said two of the four projects, each with a capacity of 55 megawatts, will be built by the stated-owned electric company of the PLN with financial assistance from the Chinese government.

Two others, with a capacity of 25 megawatts each, will be built by the local company Meta Exi corp., said Jafar.

The governor said that currently his province has been lack at least about 40 megawatts electricity.

Indonesia will reduce its dependency on fuel oil in generating power, according to the vice president.

The country's oil production has been declined due to aging of some oil wells and the slow of finding new wells.

Indonesia's power plants have a total capacity of 25,000 megawatts, but the demand grows by 6 to 7 percent or 2,000 to 3, 000 megawatts annually, according to Mines and Energy Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro.

Indonesia's electricity sector provides a huge opportunity for investment, but the country only be able to meet 55 percent of the demand in the sector, said Yusgiantoro.

Yusgianoro said that to meet the demand, Indonesia plans to build power plants with a total capacity of 25,000 megawatts.