A Climateworks project exploring ocean-based mitigation has secured the involvement of leading regional figures in marine science, climate policy and environmental economics. 

Professor Luky Adrianto has been appointed as chair of the Indonesian stakeholder steering committee for Climateworks’ Southeast Asia Framework for Ocean Action in Mitigation (SEAFOAM) project. 

Environmental economist Christy Desta Pratama joins the committee, as technical expert and secretariat for the group.

The SEAFOAM project, led by Climateworks’ Dr Sali Bache and supported by Quantedge Advancement Initiative, will identify ocean-based solutions to help achieve the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. 

SEAFOAM’s Indonesian pilot study will investigate options for ocean-based climate mitigation and identify pilot projects for marine nature-based climate solutions in Indonesia. 

The Indonesian stakeholder steering committee will convene and engage key Indonesian decision-makers around the development of ocean-based climate policy.

‘The deep knowledge and passion that both Pak Luky and Desta bring to ocean-climate action, and their extensive Indonesian networks, is instrumental to SEAFOAM’s success in working collaboratively with government and other stakeholders.’ Dr Bache said.

Vast knowledge and experience

An esteemed figure in fisheries science and policy development in Indonesia and the region, Professor Luky has worked in coastal and marine resources management for more than 20 years.

Professor Luky Adrianto
Professor Luky Adrianto

He has led research, education and policy initiatives in Indonesia and internationally and is widely published in both English and Bahasa Indonesia. 

Since 2010, he has been serving on the Regional Task Force in Integrated Coastal Management for the Partnership of the Environmental Management of the Seas of East Asia, which has been involved in capacity building in Cambodia, Thailand, and Timor-Leste. 

From 2014, he coordinated a Learning Networks of Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management and in 2015, was elected as Co-Chair for the International Advisory Board, Coastal and Marine Institute, Xiamen University, China. From 2016-2020, Dr Luky was appointed as the leader for the expert Indonesian group developing the national fisheries policy platform.

Professor Luky is currently Dean of the Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences at Bogor Agricultural University, Indonesia, where he is an Associate Professor of Social-Ecological System Analysis of Fisheries and Coastal Resources Governance at the Graduate School of Coastal and Marine Resources Management.

‘Very few countries have given adequate attention to ocean-based climate action, especially in the form of a systematic and comprehensive framework for the most vulnerable coastal ecosystems and communities,’ Professor Luky said.

‘Indonesia, as the planet’s largest archipelagic country, has great potential for leadership in this important area, and action that may mean the difference in success and failure of reaching our climate goals.’

Christy Desta Pratama most recently served as Natural Resources Economist for Prospera, a partnership between Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Indonesia’s Coordinating Ministry for the Economy. 

Christy Desta Pratama
Christy Desta Pratama

Mr Pratama was an Environmental Economist for the World Bank and has also worked with the Conversation Strategy Fund, the BaKTI Foundation and the Center for International Forestry Research, among others.  

He has a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Indonesia and a Master of Environmental and Resource Economics from the Australian National University.

‘There are significant opportunities for ocean-based mitigation projects to provide tangible gender, equity and livelihood co-benefits to Indonesian communities,’ Mr Pratama said.

SEAFOAM working to lift ambition though ocean action

The ocean is critical to solving the global climate challenge. Ocean-based climate solutions have the potential to deliver almost a quarter of the annual greenhouse gas emission cuts pledged under the Paris Agreement.

Climateworks is excited to be partnering with Quantedge Advancement Initiative on the project, whose support has made SEAFOAM possible.

‘Ocean-based action can deliver 21 per cent of the annual greenhouse gas emissions cuts needed by 2050 to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius,’ Tan Yan Ru, Vice-President of Programmes, Quantedge Advancement Initiative, said.

‘The inclusion of ocean-based mitigation action within countries’ climate commitments will be a vital step towards achieving this target. We are delighted to partner with Climateworks Centre on SEAFOAM to support collective ambition on ocean-climate issues.’

Local ocean-based mitigation solutions identified through the SEAFOAM Indonesian pilot study have the potential to have a global impact. 

‘The SEAFOAM project will demonstrate ways countries can meet or raise their climate ambition through the inclusion of marine nature-based solutions and ocean mitigation, in an effort to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius,’ Dr Bache said.

‘The Indonesian pilot study aims to produce an adaptable and replicable framework to facilitate the scaling up of ocean ambitions across the region and beyond.’

Dr Bache has 20 years’ experience in international governance. She is extensively published in Australasian and international journals and has advised organisations including United Nations agencies, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with a current appointment to the United Nations Environment Programme Global Environment Outlook 7 process.

Read more about the SEAFOAM Indonesian pilot study