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Pioneering in Marginal Fields: Jatropha for Carbon Credits and Restoring Degraded Land in Eastern Indonesia

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  • Loes Willemijn Van Rooijen

    (Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Development, Faculty of Law, Leiden University, Steenschuur 24, 2311 ES Leiden, The Netherlands)

Abstract

This paper highlights the role of a national Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Indonesia as “pioneer” actor in the jatropha global production network, linking solutions for local problems with narratives concerning global concerns. Analysis of previous activities of the NGO positions their jatropha project as one period in a sequence of donor-funded appropriate technology programs. On the island of Flores in Eastern Indonesia the NGO aimed to establish community based jatropha cultivation exclusively on “degraded land”, avoiding threats to food cultivation, and responding to local problems of land degradation and water resources depletion. In contrast with investors interested in jatropha based biofuel production for export, the NGO aimed at developing biofuel for local needs, including jatropha based electricity generation in the regional state-owned power plant. Anticipating progress in international and national regulations concerning the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) the 2008 project’s design included carbon credit income as a main source of future project financing. Using methods of socio-legal studies and political ecology, this study indicates that when the economic feasibility of a project is based on the future financial value of a legally constructed commodity like carbon credits, the sustainability of the project outcome can be questionable. The author recommends precaution when it comes to including anticipated income from carbon credits in calculating the economic viability of a project, as price developments can fluctuate when political support and regulations change.

Suggested Citation

  • Loes Willemijn Van Rooijen, 2014. "Pioneering in Marginal Fields: Jatropha for Carbon Credits and Restoring Degraded Land in Eastern Indonesia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-25, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:6:y:2014:i:4:p:2223-2247:d:35140
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    1. Achten, Wouter M.J. & Almeida, Joana & Fobelets, Vincent & Bolle, Evelien & Mathijs, Erik & Singh, Virendra P. & Tewari, Dina N. & Verchot, Louis V. & Muys, Bart, 2010. "Life cycle assessment of Jatropha biodiesel as transportation fuel in rural India," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(12), pages 3652-3660, December.
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    2. Goetz, Ariane & German, Laura & Hunsberger, Carol & Schmidt, Oscar, 2017. "Do no harm? Risk perceptions in national bioenergy policies and actual mitigation performance," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 776-790.
    3. Kate O’Neill & Erika Weinthal & Patrick Hunnicutt, 2017. "Seeing complexity: visualization tools in global environmental politics and governance," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 7(4), pages 490-506, December.

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