Indonesia wildfire emissions threaten 2030 forest carbon target, data shows

Wildfires across Kalimantan, Sumatra, and Papua have pushed Indonesia close to missing its national climate target. By late August, nearly 900,000 hectares had burned, and by Sept 11 fire emissions reached 76.2 megatons of carbon, about one-third of the global total, according to Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service data. That is roughly equal to a year of emissions from 74 coal plants. The fires also raise fresh doubt about Indonesia's pledge to reach a forest and land-use net sink by 2030. 2019 is the baseline year in the country's second NDC, and degraded peatlands are already leaking carbon even without burning. Environmental groups say the government needs to stop authorizing peatland conversion and restore damaged ecosystems, or the target will remain out of reach.