Pertamina Hulu Rokan Expounds On Wetlands Innovation At COP28

PT Pertamina Hulu Rokan (PHR) presented innovations in creating wetlands to manage wastewater produced from its operational activities at COP28 on Friday. PHR's innovations, which were implemented to support the achievement of net zero emissions (NZE) by 2060, were presented at the 2023 UN Climate Change Summit, or Conference of the Parties (COP28), in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), on Friday (12/01).

PHR Vice President, Facility Engineering, Erwin Sinisuka explained that nature-based solutions (NBS) were employed to manage wastewater produced by Pertamina's energy production processes. Wastewater management was carried out using constructed wetlands based on hydro technology, where wetlands are formed using a hydraulic loading rate technique, so that wastewater management simply used gravity.

Erwin said the development of wetlands were part of the effort towards environmentally friendly operations, in accordance with environmental standards of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. The session, 'Unlocking the Potential of Nature Based Solutions, for Adaptation and Mitigation of Climate Change' was held at the Indonesian Pavilion, COP28, on Friday.

PHR has built constructed wetland covering an area of 5,000 m2 in one of its Rokan Block work areas. The wetland is the company's pilot waste management project, while it is developing 14 wetland construction projects in its work areas.

The wetland has reduced emissions by 1,341 tCO2eq from January to October 2023, and has reduced wastewater discharge, which reached 11,30 barrels per day (bwpd) before construction, whereas now it is only 7,217 bwpd.

Constructed wetlands are not only for waste management but can provide more significant benefits for the community. "The community will always be our focal point, as their involvement can be the key to successful wetland management," Sinisuka said.

PHR collaborates with local communities to manage these wetlands. The buffer materials and plants used at this location come from local sources, including coconut fiber, which is used as a filter. Apart from that, the community can use filtered water, he said.

Vice President of Upstream Business Operational Excellence, Health, Safety, and Environment, PHR I, Nyoman Widaryantha Naya added that this artificial wetland also becomes a water absorption area, which can reduce the risk of flooding "This constructed wetland also has many other benefits for the community. Residents are also now using the area as a small-scale transportation route by boat," Widaryantha said.

In a similar session, the Deputy for Environmental and Forestry Management Coordination at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Nani Hendiarti, stated that Indonesia has great potential to develop NBS, where 15 percent of the world's NBS potential is in Indonesia.

Seeing these various potentials, the government is developing a blue carbon roadmap. Presidential Regulation 98 (2021) concerning the Economic Value of Carbon strengthens the optimization of blue carbon. "We will also include the marine sector and blue carbon in the nationally determined contribution targets," Hendiarti said.

The Director General of Marine Spatial Management, Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Victor Gustaaf Manopo, said that blue carbon is part of climate adaptation through ecosystem resilience.

The event was also attended by Assistant Deputy Secretary, UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, Mohamed Salman Alhammadi; Senior Natural Resources Management Specialist, World Bank, Ambroise Beriner; President Director, Sucofindo, Jodi Triananda Hasjim; and Executive Director, Tropical Forest Alliance, World Economic Forum, Jack Hurd.

As a leading company in the energy transition sector, Pertamina is committed to supporting the 2060 Net Zero Emission targets and continues to encourage programs that impact the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These efforts align with implementing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) in all Pertamina business lines and operations.

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