The government has continued to raise foreign loans, citing climate change as the cause, but said Thursday the loans would be used to service the budget deficit.
The move immediately sparked criticism from environmental activists who said it was the responsibility of rich nations to help both developing and poor nations finance climate change mitigation.
“The government needs to find alternative channels of finance, including grants or carbon trading. Foreign loans should be used as the last resort to fund climate change reduction policies,” WWF-Indonesia climate change program director Fitrian Ardiansyah said Thursday.
The National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) said the French and Japanese governments have expressed commitment to increasing their climate change loans to Indonesia this year.
“We are still discussing the amount, but both France and Japan have agreed to provide US$100 million toward climate change reduction measures this year,” Bappenas director of forestry and water resource conservation Basah Hernowo told The Jakarta Post.
“The government will use the money to cover the budget deficit,” Basah said....MORE
