(March 14): Indonesia plans to resume allowing its massive forestry sector to sell carbon credits after a three-year hiatus, a move that could help embattled offset markets to recover.

The Asian country aims to resume sales next month from nature-based projects including peatland conservation and reforestation, lifting a moratorium put in place at the start of 2022, according to Riza Suarga, president of the Indonesia Carbon Trade Association. In a separate statement Thursday, Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni said trading will soon launch for private sector and community-managed forests.

The government is “very committed to accelerate its carbon market,” Suarga said in an interview. The country has also been in talks with an international carbon registry to establish mutual recognition and secure support for new projects, he said.

The credits are a vital part of a global market that can help companies and countries meet net zero goals and that may be worth as much as US$1 trillion (RM4.4 trillion) by 2050. The sales from the forestry market are forecast to grow to as much as 258.7 trillion rupiah annually by 2034, according to the statement from the forestry ministry.

Indonesia halted the approval of new carbon offsets and froze the export of credits in a bid to retain more of the benefits of emissions-mitigation projects, including potentially using them to meet its own climate goals. Legacy carbon projects, including one of the world’s largest, are unlikely to be included in the April sale, Suarga said.

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