Policy Dialogue on Accelerating a Green Industry Transformation in Indonesia: From Resource Efficiency to Circularity in Key Sectors
PAGE Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia - In collaboration with the Ministry of National Development Planning/BAPPENAS, UNIDO, UNITAR, and UNDP Indonesia under the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) Indonesia, organized a policy dialogue titled “The Policy Dialogue on Accelerating a Green Industry Transformation in Indonesia,” held on Thursday, November 30, 2023, at Shangri-La, Jakarta. This event underscored the escalating focus and momentum on circular economy policies in the country. Driven by factors like resource challenges, waste management issues, and collaborative efforts involving the government, private sector, and consumers, Indonesia has been making strides toward a more sustainable and circular economic model that can reduce waste and impact on the environment while driving economic growth.
The government of Indonesia under the leadership of BAPPENAS is now actively integrating circular economy principles and indicators into the upcoming National Medium Term Development Plan (RPJMN) for 2025-2029, recognizing circular economic policies as pivotal to the green economic transition and low carbon development. The circular economy has also been explicitly mentioned in the draft of the next National Long-term Development Plan (RPJPN) towards Indonesia Vision 2045. Currently the Indonesian Government through BAPPENAS in collaboration with various stakeholders is preparing a national roadmap and action plan for Indonesia's circular economy.
In line with the ongoing endeavors to integrate the circular economy into policies and development planning, UNIDO, under PAGE Indonesia, has been supporting the Ministry in conducting various studies on resource efficiency and cleaner production (RECP) within sectors such as fertilizer, iron & steel, and food and beverages. In this context, UNIDO and UNITAR, supported by UNDP Indonesia and in partnership with the Directorate of Environmental Affairs of BAPPENAS, organized a multistakeholder policy dialogue. The primary objective of this dialogue was to stimulate tangible actions toward a green industry by fostering conversations on methodologies, tools, and approaches for promoting sustainable practices. Drawing insights from global insights and best practices from Indonesia, the dialogue engaged key stakeholders in the energy-intensive industry, notably the fertilizer and iron & steel sectors. The focus centered on the circular economy concept, collectively pinpointing opportunities and challenges in advancing green industrial initiatives in Indonesia. The discussions particularly highlighted methods and approaches to surmount industry challenges, with an emphasis on incorporating best practices aligned with resource-efficient and cleaner production principles.
Dignitaries including Mr. Thibaut Portevin, Head of Cooperation of the EU Delegation to Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam; Mr. Salil Dutt, Chief Technical Advisor of UNIDO; Mr. Angus McKay, Director of Planet Division of UNITAR; and Dr. Medrilzam, Director of Environmental Affairs of BAPPENAS inaugurated the workshop. This event was attended by key stakeholders in the fertilizer and iron & steel industries, Government including BAPPENAS, Centre of Green Industry of the Ministry of Industry, and Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, academics/think-tanks, and other development partners.
This activity successfully achieved various objectives, among others, gathering inputs and insights from industry stakeholders to enrich the ongoing development of the circular economy roadmap and action plan. Furthermore, the dialogue actively pursued commitment from stakeholders within the fertilizer and iron and steel industries to embrace and implement RECP alongside circular economy practices. In one of the sessions, the association for iron & steel discussed their take on RECP as industry's approach for their ESG initiatives to support and drive the corporate transition and contribution to net zero emissions and stewardship towards sustainability. This commitment signifies a pivotal step toward the practical application of sustainable measures in these crucial, energy intensive and hard-to-abate sectors.