Despite progress in recent years, it still remains a tough ask for politicians to stand and operate successfully on a primarily green platform. The former President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, however, has been at the forefront of a transition to a new world order—in which politicians who champion good environmental stewardship as a means to economic prosperity will become the norm.

In his ten years as President, which ended in October 2014, President Yudhoyono stuck to his guns in face of sometimes intense opposition, making environmental integrity a central tenet of Indonesia’s sustainable development and enabling his nation to achieve economic growth while supporting and promoting low-carbon development.

At the 2009 G-20 Leaders Summit in Pittsburgh, he became the first president from a major developing country to voluntarily pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions—committing to cutting emissions by as much as 41 from predicted business-as-usual 2020 levels by tackling forest fires and deforestation. He put his money where his mouth when he imposed a two-year moratorium on logging concessions. In 2011, in the face of intense industry pressure, he extended this moratorium for another two years. He followed this up in 2013 when he signed into existence the world’s first dedicated REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) agency at a cabinet level in 2013.

Meanwhile, he strove to spread awareness throughout Indonesia of the importance of responsible management of precious natural resources by integrating environmental conservation into national curricula, and by making it more difficult for perpetrators of environmental crimes to evade prosecution. 

Now that his two terms are completed, President Yudhoyono will continue to follow his green path as the next Global Green Growth Institute Assembly President. His example as a politician unafraid to tread a green path is one that many other leaders of developing nations can draw strength from.

In his words to the G-20, “It is possible to cure the global economy and save the planet at the same time.”