May 19th, 2022 – Jakarta

As an effort to improve and advance the quality of environmental education in Indonesia, an Indonesian high-impact carbon asset developer, CarbonX, has partnered with Indonesia Indah Foundation (IIF) to hold an educational program, known as Saya Pahlawan Lingkungan or “I am an Environmental Hero” which was officially launched in 2019 and has been tested in 30 national schools in the Greater Jakarta area.

The program is kicking off in May 2022 and expanding into the North Jakarta area. It also has plans to expand into rural areas where environmental education is much needed, such as in East Kalimantan’s Samarinda and Berau Regency, with the plan to expand over CarbonX’s multiple locations across Indonesia.

This program is expected to contribute to helping Indonesia to reach its Net Zero Emissions target. Co-Founder and President Commissioner CarbonX, Pandu Sjahrir believes that CarbonX and IIF share a vision for the future of Indonesia.

“I believe that when implementing social engagement programs, it’s critical to have the right partners and teams. We feel CarbonX and IIF together have all the tools required to make a meaningful impact across Indonesia,” said Pandu.

To further mitigate the effects of climate change, the program commits to planting one mangrove tree per child. Carbonx’s hope is to reach 1 million kids over the next five years, in turn planting one million mangroves. Mangrove trees are huge sequesters of carbon and provide crucial habitat for juvenile fish and endangered marine life.

Mangrove also protects coastal areas from erosion and abrasion – a problem many coastal communities suffer from in Indonesia. The first batch of trees will be planted in August in Central Java’s Brebes Regency, a region suffering from mangrove degradation and coastal erosion. Carbonx and IIF are committed to supporting Indonesia’s future mangrove restoration plans.

“Indonesia’s national school curriculum does not have a dedicated syllabus on environmental sustainability,” said Angela Jelita Richardson, Founder and Chairwoman of non-profit environmental sustainability organization, Indonesia Indah Foundation. Instead, the subject of environmental education is woven into different subjects, such as in Islamic religious studies or biology.

Angela believes there are issues surrounding the quality of environmental education received at national schools. “A lack of engagement and interest by teachers and a lack of educational books on environmental education for teachers and students are some of the leading problems that we aim to address,” she said.

Meanwhile, Co-Founder and CEO Ken Sauer added, “CarbonX’s multiple location pipelines means that the local engagement and, on the ground, social reach is the driving element to truly implement a long-term mangrove restoration program. Together, with IIF we feel that our strengths are aligned in the Net Zero mission and can support.” 

“CarbonX mission is to invest and develop high impact assets. With the partnership with IIF we truly feel we are enhancing the social awareness and engagement component around sustainability allowing for hopefully the population to better enhance its ability to Net Zero”.

As is known, at the COP26 Conference in Glasgow, Indonesia announced plans to reach its Net Zero Emissions goal by 2060 or sooner. To reach this goal, environmental experts believe efforts to accelerate environmental education need to be stepped up across the archipelago. 

The “Saya Pahlawan Lingkungan” program teaches environmental sustainability to school children of all ages – from preschool to vocational high school. The program’s aim is to meet the level of awareness that is urgently required on environmental issues, homing in on Water, Waste, Food, and Energy.

The program uses a specially created syllabus in the form of guidebooks, which have been approved for intra-curricular use by the Agency of Education in Jakarta (Dinas Pendidikan DKI Jakarta). Teachers are provided with tools to better educate on environmental sustainability, for instance through the use of empathy, which is proven to develop better learners, who are more engaged and have a better understanding of the subject matter. 

About Yayasan Indonesia Indah:

Indonesia Indah Foundation (IIF) is a non-profit organization based in Jakarta, which was established in February 2019. It has a dream of a sustainable, clean and even more beautiful Indonesia, on land and at sea and has a mission to empower everyone in Indonesia to become an agent of change for the environment. The foundation reaches its goals through Education, Awareness, and Conservation programs, whilst also providing disaster relief when needed.

About CarbonX: 

CarbonX was founded in 2021 with the vision to transform the economy to a more sustainable future. Carbonx’s mission is to invest in high-impact carbon projects in sustainable forestry and other relevant sectors that can be made commercially viable through carbon financing. And to develop projects that reduce / avoid emissions while simultaneously enhancing social inclusion, the environment, the livelihoods of communities, and job creation by creating an impact driven company shared by its employees and shareholders.