Jakarta. The Indonesia Carbon Exchange (IDXCarbon) is experiencing rapid growth and reached a major milestone with the launch of international trading on January 20. Jeffrey Hendrik, Director of Development at the Indonesia Stock Exchange, expressed optimism about IDXCarbon’s increasing popularity among investors this year.

"We are very optimistic. From the start of the year until now, the amount of carbon units traded has reached almost 50 percent of the total transactions recorded throughout last year," Jeffrey said on Thursday.

He noted that the exchange’s prospects are bright, particularly with the involvement of foreign buyers and the inclusion of carbon units from renewable energy, nature-based solutions, and technological sectors. These factors are expected to boost activity on the carbon exchange.

Jeffrey highlighted significant progress in trading volume, revealing that as of September 26, 2024, the total transaction volume had reached 613,740 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e). Early 2025 has already seen transactions nearing half of last year’s total, signaling robust growth.

Despite these positive developments, the return of Donald Trump to the White House may introduce challenges, given his support for fossil energy use. However, Jeffrey remains optimistic.

"This is still relatively new, and we continue to engage with international carbon market players. So far, purchasing interest and trading activity in the international carbon market remain stable, so the opportunities are still very promising," he said.

According to IDXCarbon data, as of January 10, 2025, the total carbon unit trade volume reached 1.13 million tons of CO2 equivalent, with a transaction value of Rp 58.86 billion ($3.6 million).