According to the latest UN ESCAP estimates, droughts have caused an annual economic loss of roughly US$ 23,308 million to Indonesia. Global initiatives have recommended the use of insurance to protect agricultural livelihoods, but currently most farmers are not aware of the benefits of insurance, and have a low ability to pay. The government has issued Permendesa No. 6 of 2020, which provides fiscal instruments for disaster management, namely Dana Desa or Village Fund. Nonetheless, there is still a lack of understanding about Village Fund for disaster related uses. This policy brief provides three policy recommendations for the utilisation of financial risk transfer instruments and overall agricultural development. First, provisions of a social safety net for farmers through weather index-based insurance subsidised by Village Fund. Second, Development of a Social and Solidarity Supermarkets (“SSMs”) for Post-catastrophe Food Security. Lastly, establishment of an Agricultural Resilience Task Force (“ARTF”).

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Climate finance plays a critical role in addressing climate change issues. Global donors have provided much of this finance to help developing countries adapt and cope with ongoing climate change effects. However, limited technical capabilities and political interference in said countries can cause difficulties for donors, particularly when they want to implement it themselves. In this brief, we examine key problems faced by global donors in deploying their climate funds to developing countries and propose solutions on how the government can enable the mobilisation of such funds.We find that the government of Indonesia(GoI) has established a national intermediary called the Indonesian Environment Fund (IEF) under the Ministry of Finance. However, the IEF still has shortcomings, and could be rectified to unleash its full role in mobilising climate finance. Improvement of the IEF is necessary to help scale up the amount of funding, encourage more blended financing, and develop local implementation capabilities.

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Bandung City is prone to hydro-meteorological disasters such as floods, drought, and lanslides caused by climate change and land conversion. Efforts to mitigate the disaster risk in Bandung City comprise structural and non-structural measures. Nature-based Solutions (NbS), an approach to addres global challenges including hydro-meteorological hazards through important roles of nature, can be utilised in optimising eosystem capacity to reduce disaster risk and increase urban resilience. This policy brief attempts to elaborate recommendations of NbS implementation in Bandung City to address hydro-meteorological disaster risk reduction based on its prospects and challenges.

Despite assurances that Indonesia’s new planned capital in East Kalimantan will be sustainable, there are well-founded fears that it will cause massive environmental damage to Borneo Island, one of the world’s most important biodiversity hotspots and carbon sinks. This policy brief examines the potential impacts and suggests how the capital move can be a catalyst for improving environmental performance in Borneo and Indonesia.

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