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Minister rebuts criticism of climate plan
State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar said Tuesday that the government was working harder to realize the national action plan, designed to mitigate the impacts of climate change
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State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar said Tuesday that the government was working harder to realize the national action plan, designed to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
The minister made the statement in response to a report from the Society Forum for Climate Change (CSF), which declared that the national action plan had become a "dead document".
Rachmat said the National Council on Climate Change (DNPI), led by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, had taken over the implementation of the climate action plan from the State Environmental Ministry.
"Starting last year, the government has had an allocated budget for each sector to implement the action plan. Therefore, there is no reason for any sector not to follow mitigation and adaptation programs," Rachmat, who is also the executive chairman of the council, told The Jakarta Post.
"Please,underestimate the council. President Yudhoyono has regularly asked his ministers during cabinet meetings about how the climate change action plan is being carried out."
The 104-page national action plan on climate change was announced by President Yudhoyono on the sidelines of the UN-sponsored climate conference in Bali in 2007.
The DNPI replaced the Environmental Ministry as the governments focal point for climate change. The council consists of 16 Cabinet members including the energy and natural resources minister, the foreign affairs minister, the agriculture minister, the forestry minister, the health minister, the fisheries and maritime affairs minister and the transportation minister.
Aside from monitoring the implementation of the national action plan to fight climate change, the council is also tasked with managing climate funds, including those from rich nations, to help Indonesia reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam) Executive Director Siti Maimunah said that a new mining law, issued days after the Poznan climate conference last December, contradicts the government's promise to combat climate change.
The CSF said many government offices, including both the mining and forestry ministries, have completely ignored the action plan.
