Every Indonesian can help to fight climate change

Jonathan Wootliff   |  Tue, 04/08/2008 11:54 AM  |  Environment

Apologies to those, including me, who didn't enjoy chemistry and physics at school, but in case you didn't know, there exist numerous chemical compounds called Greenhouse Gases that cause global warming.

Many occur naturally, including water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and ozone. Others, with even less inspiring names, like hydro-fluorocarbons, per-fluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride, are caused by human activities, including industrial processes, and significantly add to the level of naturally occurring green house gases.

Nitrous oxide emissions occur during various agricultural and industrial processes, and when solid waste or fossil fuels are burned.

Methane is emitted when organic waste decomposes, whether in landfills or in connection to livestock farming.

But it is carbon dioxide (CO2) that is the most important of all greenhouse gases as it accounts for around 60 percent of the so called 'enhanced greenhouse effect'.

CO2 is released into the atmosphere by respiration, the burning of solid waste, wood and wood products, fossil fuels, including oil, gas and coal, and deforestation.

Every year, humans add over 30 billion tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere through these processes, and the amount is estimated to have increased by thirty percent since the industrial revolution beginning around 1750.

Humankind wouldn't be viable without C02, but the future of life on earth is now threatened by producing too much of it.

We're all hearing a lot about global warming these days. The Bali climate convention helped raise awareness of this important issue among Indonesians.

Therefore, I make no apologies for writing about this subject which, without any shadow of a doubt, is the greatest issue of the Century.

For sure, the science involved is complex, and solutions may often seem beyond our abilities to comprehend, but as members of the human race we have a clear responsibility to protect our planet and to ensure we leave it in good shape for future generations.

Thankfully, the topic has been made more understandable by the likes of former U.S. vice president Al Gore, who made the popular movie on climate change called An Inconvenient Truth.

In his must-see movie, Gore explains that our thin layer of atmosphere, required for maintaining the temperature on Earth within comfortable bounds, is getting thicker because of huge quantities of human-induced carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

This is trapping lots of infrared radiation that would otherwise escape out into space, causing our atmosphere and oceans to get dangerously warmer.

Sadly, deforestation, the degradation of peat land and forest fires have put Indonesia among the top three largest emitters of greenhouse gases in the world.

Emissions resulting from deforestation and forest fires are five times those from non-forestry processes.

Emissions from energy and industrial sectors are relatively small, but are growing very rapidly.

The cost for Indonesia of an unbridled climate change is potentially enormous.

If we do nothing to reduce harmful greenhouse gases, particularly C02, leading scientists predict six key consequences for Indonesia, which make for some pretty scary reading:

First, Indonesia will experience temperature increases.

Second, the country will experience increased rainfall.

Third, sea level rises will inundate productive shorelines, effecting farming and coastal livelihoods.

Fourth, food security in Indonesia will be threatened by climate change.

Fifth, the warming of ocean water will affect the nation's marine biodiversity.

Sixth, climate change will intensify water and insect borne diseases.

The problems are certainly very serious, and urgent action is clearly required.

However, the situation is far from hopeless and there are real, workable solutions.

Government policies both at home and abroad will play a critical role in the realization of remedies, but there is much individual Indonesians can do to help reduce the risks of irreversible damage from climate change.

We all need to take stock of our own Carbon Footprint -- the measure of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of green house gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide.

An average Indonesian creates nearly 1.7 tons of C02 every year, a figure which, by the way, is dwarfed by the enormous 20 tons generated by an average American.

Now, imagine every citizen of Indonesia was able to reduce their Carbon Footprint by, say, 5 percent in a year.

With a population of 240,000 million, that would represent a reduction in C02 emissions of 240,000 tons. That's more than the total amount of C02 emitted by Timor-Leste in a whole year.

Next week, this Green-Watch column will explain how you can measure your own Carbon Footprint, as well as offering some concrete steps on how it can be reduced.

Jonathan Wootliff is an independent sustainable development consultant specializing in the building of productive relationships between companies and NGOs. He can be contacted at jonathan@wootliff.com

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