Moch Faisal Karim is a Senior Lecturer in International Relations at BINUS University, Indonesia. His primary research interest lies in the intersection of political economy and International Relations (IR) with an emphasis on the role of state institutions and state-society relations in explaining transnational issues faced by Southeast Asian countries. His research has been published, among others, in Territory, Politics, and Governance, International Relations, Foreign Policy Analysis, Asian Studies Review, Pacific Review, and Contemporary Politics. 

The transformation of forest governance in low- and middle-income countries has been accelerated due to increased international pressure for climate change adaptation. These endeavours, however, have been severely limited by inefficiencies within the forest-related state institutions tasked with addressing governance challenges, such as coordination, mediating political interests, and strategy-setting. His paper aims to contribute to the discussion of forest governance by providing an alternative view of such limitations. Using the case of the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) program in Indonesia, his paper examines the institutionalization process of the climate agenda in the forestry sector and how it influences forest governance transformation.