Green watch: No time to waste for detailed climate action plan
Jonathan Wootliff | The Jakarta Post | 02/09/2010
Pressure in mounting on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to specify how he plans to deliver his promise to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In a move welcomed by the UN’s climate change body as an important step towards achieving a legally binding global agreement, Indonesia is one of 55 countries — including the 27-member European Union — to have formally pledged to cut or limit their emissions by signing the so-called Copenhagen Accord.
These countries account for a total of 78 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, leaving 137 countries still to announce their targets.
Independent studies indicate the pledges as they stand are about half of what is required to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
Indonesia made the Jan. 31 deadline set by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in delivering a seven-page report on its emission reduction target by at least 26 percent from current levels by 2020 and up to 41 percent with international support.
SBY has clearly stated that climate change alleviation measures are a priority for his government, which is now in the process of preparing a presidential decree to achieve ambitious targets.
But environmental groups including Greenpeace are demanding more details from the government as to how it plans to fulfill this commitment to cut the nation’s climate-threatening emissions.
Oxfam, another leading international non-governmental organization, wants to know how the government is preparing adaptations and mitigation on the predicted impacts of climate change on the poor, who they say will be hardest hit.
Campaigners are now eagerly awaiting the publication of Indonesia’s national plan of action for emission cuts, which the Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa said would be completed by Feb. 20.
Having made impassioned speeches at the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh and the climate change summit in Copenhagen on the urgent need to combat global warming, SBY’s international reputation is on the line.
He surely understands the vital importance for Indonesia to come up with a comprehensive and convincing plan of action that must include a detailed breakdown on how the targets will be achieved.
And countries like Britain, Sweden and Norway, which have offered funds to support a program saving on energy use and expected to help reduce emissions, need to have a detailed understanding of Indonesia’s plans before releasing much-needed funds.
Meanwhile, as domestic and international political machines grind in overtime, and climate scientists and skeptics continue to bicker as to the validity of studies conducted by the International Panel of Climate Change, there is mounting evidence of the severe consequences of global warming in Indonesia.
Lofty population density and high levels of biodiversity, together with its 80,000 kilometers of coastline and 17,500 islands, makes Indonesia one of the most vulnerable countries to the impact of climate change.
That’s all the more reason why this country, which is among the largest emitters of greenhouse gas emissions, mainly due to forest fires, improper land clearance practices and shortfalls in the enforcement of environmental laws.
Two years have passed since Indonesia led the international climate talks in Bali, where countries agreed to prepare a legally binding agreement in Copenhagen.
But failure of the world’s governments to seal a deal at last December’s meeting has placed more pressure on climate-vulnerable countries like Indonesia to take the lead in introducing credible measures to combat global warming.
A recent Worldwide Fund for Nature study is one of many reports documenting shifting weather patterns making it increasingly difficult for farmers to decide when to plant their crops.
It is estimated that Indonesia is now losing at least 300,000 tons of potential crop production each year because of the scourge of global warming.
Harsher weather conditions mean that millions of fishermen are making less money because of dwindling catches caused by changes in ocean temperatures.
Indonesia’s 40 million poor who depend on healthy land and sea for their livelihoods will be the worst affected due to prolonged droughts, tropical cyclones and rising sea levels thanks to climate change.
SBY knows all too well the country’s decreasing rainfall is increasing droughts adversely impacting crop yields, thereby threatening the country’s economic stability, and result in more undernourished people.
There is good reason to be cautiously optimistic.
We can be proud of Indonesia’s performance at the Bali summit. Many experts attributed its success to the skillful way in which the conference chairman, then environment minister Rachmat Witoelar, navigated the highly complex negotiations; in stark contrast to the seemingly indelicate diplomacy displayed by the Danish government’s management of the Copenhagen talks.
Highly experienced Rachmat is the head of the National Council on Climate Change, thankfully playing a leading role in the development of the climate action plan.
Indonesia has much to lose if climate change is allowed to continue unabated. Scientists tell us we cannot afford to allow temperatures to rise beyond 2 degrees Centigrade.
Failure to stop this increase seriously threatens the future wellbeing of this great nation.
Indonesia must lead the world by example. SBY must ensure his government fulfills his promises on climate change.
There is no time to waste.
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