In a small meeting room buzzing with the movement of climate negotiators, delegations from Indonesia and Fiji sat across from each other on 14 November 2025. Amid the intensity of COP30 UNFCCC negotiations, the bilateral meeting offered a calmer yet strategic space for dialogue.
The Indonesian delegation, led by the Expert Staff to the Minister Forestry for Climate Change, Prof. Haruni Krisnawati, and accompanied by the Head of Public Relations and International Cooperation Bureau, Krisdianto, received the Fijian delegation, which represented the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Fisheries and Forestry, and Conservation International Fiji.
Words of appreciation opened the discussion. Fiji praised Indonesia’s achievements in the forestry sector—ranging from REDD+ implementation to the growing Voluntary Carbon Market. The Pacific island nation openly expressed its interest in learning from Indonesia’s experience through exchange programs and capacity-building initiatives in climate change and forest management.
Haruni welcomed this interest, stating that Indonesia is, in principle, open to deeper collaboration. However, she emphasized an important note: the foundational framework for cooperation must be renewed. The Memorandum of Understanding between the two ministries, signed on 24 April 2018, expired in April 2023. Without updating the MoU, new initiatives would proceed without a solid legal basis.
The 2018 MoU was an important document signed during the Asia Pacific Rainforest Summit in Yogyakarta. It outlined five areas of cooperation, including sustainable wood and non-wood processing technologies, environmentally friendly trade, forest rehabilitation and social programs, biodiversity conservation, and law enforcement to combat illegal logging.
At COP30, both delegations agreed to reactivate this cooperation framework. The goal is not merely to revive the dormant MoU, but to build a new model of collaboration that aligns with today’s challenges—from an evolving carbon market to the urgent need for alliances among island nations in addressing climate change.
The brief meeting in Belém signaled that Indonesia and Fiji are opening a new chapter in forestry diplomacy. A small but meaningful step on the global stage, which increasingly demands collective action and solidarity among island nations.
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