Indonesia takes ‘low and slow’ path to carbon tax and trade

Indonesia will become the second country in South-east Asia to price carbon, after Singapore. - AFP

JAKARTA (Bloomberg): Indonesia, the world’s top exporter of thermal coal, will take a gradual approach in pricing and capping greenhouse gas emissions when it rolls out its first carbon tax and trade policy next year.

South-East Asia’s largest economy, which relies on coal for 70% of its electricity, will set an official limit starting April 1, with those emitting above the cap required to purchase offsets or pay a tax of 30,000 rupiah (US$2.10) per metric tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent, fiscal policy chief Febrio Kacaribu said in an interview on Wednesday (Nov 10).