Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 09/29/2009 1:13 PM
Despite promises from the government, Indonesia may fail to discuss ocean issues at the two-week climate change conference in Bangkok, with no signs on Monday of this being on the delegates' agenda.
The secretary-general of the People's Coalition for Equal Fisheries (Kiara), Riza Damanik, said the government's pledges made public in Indonesia were totally different from facts on the negotiation table.
"I am sure that in Bangkok there will be no definite talks on the Manado Ocean Declaration *MOD*," Riza told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
"Indonesia's aims concerning ocean issues in dealing with climate change remain unclear."
The Indonesian delegates to the Bangkok meeting, which commenced on Monday, declined to comment on the country's agenda regarding the MOD issues.
A source, who declined to be named, said delegates were not well prepared for the Bangkok conference because of the long Idul Fitri holiday.
The source said officials were too busy last week to prepare climate change speeches for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for the UN summit in New York and G20 summit in Pittsburgh, the United States.
Earlier this year Indonesia hosted the World Ocean Conference in Manado, North Sulawesi, calling for the prioritization of ocean issues in negotiations for the Copenhagen climate deal.
To meet the Copenhagen target, Indonesia has set up a road map to table the MOD in climate talks, including in the current Bangkok meeting.
The MOD requires adaptation funds and technology transfer to help ocean countries - including Indonesia as one of the largest ocean nations - to deal with the climate change.
About 1,500 delegates from 180 countries are currently convening in Bangkok for the climate conference, the second-last meeting before the main climate conference scheduled to take place in Copenhagen in December this year.
UN climate chief Yvo de Boer called for delegates to break the deadlock on emissions reduction to deal with climate change - a global problem threatening life on planet Earth as we know it.
"Time is not just pressing - it has almost run out," de Boer said in his opening speech on Monday.
"In two weeks, real progress can be made towards the goals world leaders have set for negotiations to break the deadlock, and to cooperate towards concrete progress," he said.
Negotiations on a new climate pact have been bogged down by widespread unwillingness to commit to firm emission targets, and refusals by many developing countries to sign a deal until the West guarantees tens of billions of dollars in financial assistance.
The Bangkok meeting comes only days after 100 world leaders met at the UN summit in New York, where US President Barack Obama and Chinese Prsident Hu Jintao vowed tough measures to combat climate change.
Most industrialized nations have offered emissions cuts of between 15 and 23 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, falling short of the 25 to 40 percent cuts scientists and activists say are needed to keep temperature increases below 2 degrees Celsius.
