British oil and gas giant Shell has expressed interest in purchasing forest carbon credits from Indonesia, Ecobiz.asia reported.
"Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni is scheduled to meet with Shell’s CEO to discuss the purchase of Indonesia’s forest carbon credits," said Ilham, Director of Forest Utilization Business Development at the Ministry of Forestry, to Ecobiz.asia following a discussion held in Jakarta on Wednesday (May 28, 2025).
According to Ilham, Shell has shown interest in buying carbon credits from one of the Forest Utilization Business Permit (PBPH) concessions. However, the Ministry will also offer credits from several other PBPH concessions.
For context, Shell was previously one of the buyers of carbon credits from the Katingan Mentaya Project, managed by PBPH PT Rimba Makmur Utama.
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Ilham explained that the Ministry has conducted assessments on several PBPHs being prepared to enter the carbon trading market. As a result, several PBPHs show strong potential, with volumes of carbon credits reaching tens of millions of tons of CO₂ equivalent.
As of March 2024, Ministry of Forestry data shows there are 509 PBPH units with a total concession area of about 30 million hectares. Of these, 168 PBPH units already have a Forest Multi-Business Work Plan (RKU MUK), which allows for carbon trading activities.
Ilham added that on the demand side, the Ministry is also engaging with several embassies, including the British Embassy, to boost demand for Indonesian forest carbon credits.
“We are approaching all embassies, including the UK, to facilitate this. We're working with the British Chamber and the UK’s Chamber of Commerce to encourage the purchase of carbon from Indonesia’s forestry sector,” said Ilham.
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Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak
