RI WANTS CONCRETE ACTIONS ON GLOBAL WARMING

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Sept 10 (ANTARA) - Indonesia which will host the 13th UN convention on climate change next December, hopes that the parties involved in the conference will take concrete actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

        "We hope the United Nations Convention on Climate Change in Bali will be successful and that the parties involved in it will make concrete efforts to deal with climate change," Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said on the sidelines of the APEC meeting in Sydney on Sunday.

        The Indonesian foreign minister's hope was voiced as little progress was reported to have been made by greenhouse gas producing countries in complying with the guidelines set forth in the Kyoto Protocol, a consensus reached by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNCCC) at its annual meeting in Japan in 1997.

        The UNFCCC itself was formed in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 by countries concerned about climate change and global warming. It focused its attention on the question of saving the earth from the consequences of global warming.

        Called Conference of Parties (COP), the organization in its Kyoto meeting produced the Protocol which required advanced nations to cut their greenhouse gas emissions to 5.2 percent in the 2008-2012 period.

        Unluckily, not all countries approved the Kyoto protocol. According to Sudarjono, deputy to the environment minister for environmental communications and community development, the United States and Australia are among countries that rejected the protocol.

        The Environment Ministry official said the United States, the world's largest producer of carbon emissions, had persistently refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.

        Viewed from the greenhouse gas emission aspect, the United States was requested to reduce its gas emission to 24.2 percent, Russia to 17.4 percent, Japan to 8.5 percent, Canada to 3.3 percent and Australia to 2.1 percent.

        Indonesia in its capacity as would-be host of the UNCCC is trying its best to make the global efforts a success.

        "Concrete actions are badly needed," Hassan Wirajuda said. Indonesia is determined to take immediate and concrete steps such as conducting reforestations on its denuded lands, he said.

        He called on Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member countries to take concrete actions to jointly overcome the climate change problem.

        Indonesia as a developing country acknowledged during the APEC Summit that climate change and sustainable development were important issues. It pushed ahead with its proposals. As a result, agreements on climate change, energy preservation and clean development were made during the APEC summit in Sydney.

        He said it would be ironical if the 21-member APEC forum had not discussed the climate change issue because the UN Convention on the matter would be held in one of the APEC member countries next December.

        "So far, the European Union and G-8's (Group of Eight developed nations) forums have also been discussing matters related to climate change. It would be ironical if APEC has no idea about it before the convention is held," the foreign minister said.

        Thanks to the efforts, the leaders of 21 APEC member countries promised to give full support to Indonesia as president of the 13th Conference of Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC to be held in Bali December 2-14, 2007.

        The APEC leaders declared at the end of their summit that some of those involved in the UNFCCC agreed to work effectively and constructively toward enacting regulations in the run up to the year 2012.

        In its efforts to take follow up actions on cutting its gas emissions, Indonesia obtained funds amounting to US$20 million from the United States and A$100 million from Australia.

        During the APEC Summit on Saturday US President George W Bush pledged to give US$20 million to Indonesia to help its reforestation program. In the meantime, Indonesia and Australia signed a partnership agreement on forests and climate preservation in Kalimantan worth A$100 million.

        Indonesia has been ranked in fourth position on the list of the biggest contributors to global warming as a result of the high level of its forest fires.

        "If forest fires are taken into account, Indonesia would occupy the fourth place on the list of biggest contributors to global warming. However, if seen from the concentration of its greenhouse and transportation gas emissions, Indonesia is still in the 13th position," Sudarjono, a senior environment official said.

        With the US and Australian assistance, Indonesia was expected to be able to take concrete actions. For example, the partnership with Australia will enable Indonesia to conserve at least 200,000 hectares of peat land and to plant 100 million trees in Kalimantan.

        "With this cooperation it is expected that at least 700 million tons of green house gas emissions will be eliminated in the coming 30 years," Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said. (A014/A/HAJM/B/S012) 18:32/... ) (T.A014/A/A014/A/S012) 10-09-2007 18:33:38