The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) today visited Ecoranger Muara Gembong, Bekasi, as part of the commemoration of the 2024 National Waste Awareness Day (HPSN). Ecoranger Muara Gembong is a community empowerment-based environmental project engaged in the issue of sustainable waste management, sanitation, and abrasion prevention, which was initiated and run by the Greeneration Foundation which is part of Kadin Indonesia through the Impact Fund Philanthropy programme.

Kadin Indonesia through the Sustainability Task Force has an Impact Fund programme that aims to invite more stakeholders to get involved in programmes that have a direct impact on society. The Impact Fund programme is divided into two main focuses, namely Impact Fund Philanthropy in collaboration with Greeneration Foundation, and Impact Fund Investment in collaboration with Mandiri Capital Indonesia.

Kadin Indonesia's Impact Fund Philanthropy programme since 2021 has supported the development of the Green Fund Digital Philanthropy (GFDP) platform by the Greeneration Foundation, with a mission to collect donations from 10 million Indonesians. The donations collected are then utilised to solve environmental issues, especially in the fields of waste management, circular economy, and climate change.

Shinta Widjaja Kamdani, Coordinator of Maritime, Investment and Foreign Affairs of Kadin Indonesia, said that as a strategic partner of the government, Kadin Indonesia is committed to supporting efforts to preserve the environment and address climate change. The Impact Fund Philanthropy programme is one of Kadin's commitments during the COP 28 Climate Change Summit, related to financing support worth 83.76 billion US dollars or around Rp1.3 quadrillion.

"This financing will be given to environmental organisations that contribute to environmental conservation. Over the past three years, GFDP has grown and collected monthly donations from more than 2,680 individuals with a value of around Rp 270 million which has been channeled directly to our Impact Partners, one of which is in Sector 9 of the Citarum River in West Bandung Regency," he said.

For this year, the GFDP agenda is expanded through collaboration with Ecoranger, a community empowerment programme initiated by the Greeneration Foundation in several points in Indonesia, which will start from Ecoranger Muara Gembong.

"The Ecoranger Muara Gembong programme focuses on helping local residents overcome the waste problem that often causes flooding and damages water quality. The problem has an impact on environmental damage and the welfare of local residents. Some of the initiatives that have been running and will be developed again are regular Mangrove Forest Clean Up programmes, Provision of Clean Water Filters, waste treatment facilities, etc."

Shinta continued, the donations collected through GFDP will currently be channelled to support Ecoranger's operational activities in collaboration with Saung Mekar Bersih to resolve the impact of environmental damage that occurs in the region. "Kadin hopes that more and more other parties can support the GFDP programme initiative so that it can develop more widely, so that it has a much greater impact," he said.

Chairman of Impact Fund Philanthropy, M. Bijaksana Junerosano hopes that the GFDP programme can bring significant changes to the community in Muara Gembong. "Until now, local residents have been part of a sustainable process through Saung Mekar Bersih. In the future, through this GFDP funding, we hope that more sustainable projects will be carried out in Muara Gembong," he said.