Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 09/24/2009 11:48 AM
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono left Jakarta on Wednesday for Pittsburgh, to attend the US G20 summit, where he will discuss emerging issues including climate change and the global economic downturn.
Yudhoyono was slated to address the G20 summit on the importance of a common agenda to tackle the severe impact of climate change, which puts millions of people at risk.
"President Yudhoyono will be a lead speaker on climate change issues in the G20 summit to remind the leaders not to forget the serious impacts of climate change amid the global economic downturn," presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal told reporters.
Accompanied by First Lady Ani Yudhoyono, the President left with Finance Minister and Acting Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Sri Mulyani, Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu and Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) chairman M.S. Hidayat.
President Yudhoyono was also expected to hold bilateral meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on the sidelines of the two-day summit.
"In a meeting with Rudd, President Yudhoyono will discuss environmental and forestry issues," Dino said.
Rich and developing nations continue to disagree on how to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the main source of global warming, and who should pay.
The developing nations deemed to suffer the most from climate change have long demanded that the rich nations provide financial assistance to deal with its impact.
President Barack Obama is calling on the world to end massive government subsidies that encourage the use of fossil fuels blamed for global warming.
The US president, who is set to host the G20 economic summit opening Thursday, will propose a gradual elimination, with the time frame to be determined, White House officials said.
"Later this week, I will work with my colleagues at the G20 to phase out fossil fuel subsidies so that we can better address our climate challenge," Obama said Tuesday at the United Nations global warming summit as quoted by AP.
From Pittsburgh, Yudhoyono is scheduled to deliver a lecture on inter-faith harmony at Harvard University in Boston on Sunday.
The G20 brings together the leaders of industrial and emerging market countries in the planet.
It represented about 90 percent of the global gross national product and two-thirds of the world's population.
It was the third summit since the collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers a year ago, with their focus now shifting from combating the worst recession since the 1930s to discussing how to prevent it from happening again.
Central to the talks will be a US plan to correct the world's economic imbalances by shrinking surpluses in big exporting countries like China and boosting savings in debt-laden nations including the US.
President Barack Obama wants a framework of "mutual assessment" where the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would make policy recommendations on rebalancing to the G20 every six months, according to a paper obtained by Reuters.
Also up for discussion in Pittsburgh will be reforms to the IMF, trade policy, and global warming.
India's prime minister Manmohan Singh called for a strong warning against protectionism as he set out for the gathering.
