UN says okay to proposals on climate change, Myanmar

Abdul Khalik , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 02/14/2008 11:56 AM | Headlines

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has accepted Indonesia's two initiatives including to form a high-level contact group on climate change and to solve Myanmar's problems.

The President said Ban told him during a telephone conversation Wednesday the UN conference on climate change in Indonesia last December was a success.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also said Ban had asked the country to run with the conference's momentum and to continue to address climate change.

"The Secretary-General has agreed to my recommendation on the need to establish a high-level contact group which will include myself, Polish and Danish leaders as well as the Secretary-General, UNFCCC executive secretary Yvo de Boer and other leaders," Yudhoyono told reporters at the Presidential Palace.

The contact group would discuss ways to ensure two UN conferences in Poland by the end of this year and in Denmark in 2009 can create concrete actions to solve climate change impacts.

The group would also focus on a framework for the post-Kyoto deal in 2012 based on what was achieved in Bali, Yudhoyono said.

He said the group would also focus on much-needed post-Kyoto targets for carbon reduction.

Yudhoyono said the Bali conference succeeded in drawing a clear line between "responsibilities of developed and developing countries within the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respected capabilities".

"I told the Secretary-General that what we achieved in Bali, such as the transfer of technology, financing, cooperation in adaptation and mitigation, and reforestation, were real and concrete achievements," he said.

"I and the Secretary-General agreed to have concrete progress on what we have achieved in Bali."

The Bali conference resulted in an action plan that set a late 2009 deadline for a landmark new treaty to cut emissions of greenhouse gases once the current Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

Yudhoyono said Ban asked Indonesia to support UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari in opening communication between Myanmar's military junta leaders, especially Sen. Gen. Tan Shwe, and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

"I have supported Prof. Gambari's mission from the beginning.

"The Secretary General also asked me to continue efforts to open communication with Sen. Gen. Tan Shwe so that the world's hopes can be realized."

Yudhoyono also conveyed to Ban Indonesia's position to support the junta's plan to hold a referendum in May and a general election in 2010 and asked the international community to follow suit.

"I chose to be part of the process as long as they are inclusive and transparent.

"As there is a clear timeline then we should contribute to it.

"The world should understand that Myanmar has its own internal problems.

"I believe the democratization process can be done without threatening national integration," he said.

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