Indonesia and Norway launch a new phase of the Small Grants Program, directing results-based climate finance to communities living closest to the forests. The initiative forms part of the bilateral climate and forest partnership in support of Indonesia’s FOLU Net Sink 2030 target.
On Thursday 12 February in Jakarta, Indonesia’s Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni and Norway’s Minister of International Development Åsmund Aukrust officially launched phase four of the Small Grants Program.
The program is financed through Norway’s results-based contributions for Indonesia’s verified emission reductions from deforestation. While most of the funding supports national-level climate efforts, a dedicated share is channelled directly to grassroots initiatives.
The Small Grants Program targets young activists, villages, conservation groups, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities. Supported activities include tree planting, mangrove restoration, river clean-ups, plastic waste collection, climate education in schools, small-scale renewable energy solutions and local eco-tourism initiatives.
All projects must align with Indonesia’s national climate strategy, FOLU Net Sink 2030, which frames the overall cooperation with Norway.
The program is managed by the Indonesian Environment Fund (BPDLH), which manages Norway’s results-based contribution to Indonesia, and selects community-level grantees. The scheme is designed to be accessible, streamlined and responsive — enabling faster support to those directly affected by deforestation and environmental degradation. Norway has since 2022 supported Indonesia with 216 million dollars for verified results in reduced deforestation and forest degradation.
From Results-Based Finance to Community-Led Change
Highlighting the local dimension of the initiative, Minister Aukrust said: “Today, a small but important share of this support is being used to launch the Small Grants Program phase four. The support is directed to those who live closest to the forests.”
“The Indonesian Environment Fund, which manages Norway’s results-based contribution, reports a record number of applications. That tells us something important. It tells us that this program is known. And it tells us that the need and the desire for local climate support in Indonesia is real and growing. We must never forget that global change always begins locally.”
Turning Climate Finance into Tangible Local Results
So far, more than 560 local communities have received support. Over 511,000 trees have been planted, approximately 75 tonnes of waste collected, and more than 31,500 people directly involved in project activities. Around five million US dollars have been allocated to small-scale initiatives under the program.