Abstract
BACKGROUND: The government of Indonesia, as a party to the UNFCCC, has committed to reducing its emissions unconditionally by 31% and conditionally up to 43% from the Business as Usual (BAU) level. Land Use Change and Forestry (LUCF) has been targeted as the main sector to meet this commitment, with a great contribution from carbon-rich ecosystems (e.g., peatlands). The sector is expected to reach about 63% of the target. Financially, participation from the private sector to meet the target is crucial. While abundant studies have calculated mitigation costs from the land sector, most of the studies were outdated, and the indirect and transaction costs are rarely taken into consideration. As we perceive such information as key for planning mitigation strategies, we aim to assess the cost required for the implementation of LUCF mitigation with the inclusion of formal transaction costs. RESULTS: This study uses the Comprehensive Mitigation Assessment Process (COMAP) model, an open spreadsheet model that captures both carbon and economic benefits from mitigation activities. The results showed that mitigation costs for the LUCF sectors ranged from the lowest of USD 10 to almost USD 3,200 per ha, with the most cost-effective options (USD per ton of C) being forest conservation and peatland management activities. To achieve the unconditional NDC target, the total cost required for investment and life cycle costs amounted to USD 11,229 million and USD 34,280 million, respectively, of which 53% of it expected to be provided by the private sector, while the remaining 47% from the state budget. CONCLUSIONS: The study found that mitigation activities by the private require higher life cycle costs due to a large portion of indirect and transaction costs that accounted for 10-43% and 4-19% of the total cost, respectively. Considering the financially significant contribution from the private sector to achieve the NDC target, and to increase the participation of non-party actors to the NDC target, this study proposes more policy instruments made available for cutting these formal transaction costs and to more diversify financing sources.