Alfy Ifthikhar – More than 300 delegates from Indonesia and across the Asia-Pacific region gathered at The Westin Resort Nusa Dua in Bali on September 8 and 9, 2026 for the Indonesia Carbon and Biodiversity Summit, a forum bringing together policymakers, investors, project developers, carbon buyers, standards bodies, civil society organizations and industry players in the carbon and biodiversity sectors.
The summit, known as ICBS 2026, was organized by the Indonesia Carbon Credit and Biodiversity Alliance, or ICBA. Around 80 percent of participants held roles at the C-suite, vice president, director or equivalent level, according to the organizers. Bali Governor I Wayan Koster opened the first day, using his address to emphasize the island's position in global discussions on the green economy, climate change and sustainable development.
ICBA Chair Rob Raffael Kardinal said the summit was designed not only as a forum for exchanging ideas but to connect stakeholders in ways that generate business opportunities and collaboration. "We built ICBS as a space for all stakeholders to meet, strengthen networks and build collaboration. We want project developers to be able to meet directly with investors and buyers, while also creating room for capacity building and knowledge exchange," Rob said.
Rob argued that Indonesia's carbon market cannot develop on regulation alone, saying the ecosystem needs quality projects, financing, demand from buyers, and greater capacity among stakeholders. "The carbon market will not grow on regulation alone. We need quality projects, financing, demand from buyers, as well as adequate understanding and capacity across the entire ecosystem," he said.
A forum on policy, integrity and financing
The first day focused on policy, integrity and funding. Topics included developments in Indonesia's carbon market, conservation financing, jurisdictional approaches, carbon market standards and integrity, and strategies to make carbon projects more attractive to global investors and buyers.
Speakers included figures from the local government to global carbon and climate finance industry: BeZero Carbon Chief Investment Officer and Co-Founder Sebastien Cross, Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market Director of Public Affairs Lorna Ritchie, Hamerkop Founder Olivier Levallois, and Lestari Kapital Chief Executive Officer Michal Zrust. Discussions covered carbon integrity, project financing, carbon credit quality, nature-based project development, and market demand for high-quality carbon supply.
The presentation titled "Bali's Climate Action: Regulation, Implementation and Collaboration Opportunities," delivered by Bali's governor, Koster, laid out what he described as the island's existing climate assets and opened three carbon sectors to investment: blue carbon, solar energy, and agricultural carbon. He said Bali had about 45 megawatts-peak of installed rooftop solar capacity, 17,225 electric two- and four-wheeled vehicles, and 302 public charging stations across nine regencies and cities. In the blue carbon sector, he cited roughly 2,330 hectares of mangroves, 88 percent of them classified as dense, and 1,307 hectares of seagrass meadows. Around 52,909 hectares of rice fields, or 82 percent of Bali's total, have adopted organic farming systems that Koster said could support soil carbon and biodiversity credits, while the island's 131,171 hectares of forest area include 96,688 hectares of protected forest and 26,396 hectares of conservation area. "These various assets are not merely figures or ecological potential, but can be developed into new economic assets that provide benefits for the people of Bali," Koster said.
The summit also provided a deal room where project developers, investors, buyers and other stakeholders could hold direct business discussions.