Indonesia launches 1st carbon exchange market

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 26 (KUNA) -- Indonesia launched on Tuesday a carbon exchange market aimed at turning into a main player in global carbon trade.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, during the inauguration ceremony, expressed gratitude to Financial Services Authority, the Indonesian Stock Market and other relevant authorities for launching the first carbon stock exchange in the nation, a step signaling start of the "carbon trade in our country".
He, according to the Indonesia news agency, indicated that the project would help Indonesia in honoring pledges it had made according to the 2015 Paris climate pact, genuinely designed to prevent gas emissions from exceeding the 1.5 degrees centigrade' threshold.
The president estimated that the new market value would hit USD 194 billion.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the financial services authority, Mahendra Siregar, said authorities hoped 99 coal-fired power plants would take part in the new exchange, around 86 percent of the total operating in the country.
Indonesia is the largest coal exporter at the global level.
Skeptics doubt that the Asian nation will honor its climatic obligations amid the operation of more energy plants, many are coal-fueled. (end) aib.rk.