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UK encourages RI to access $25 billion fund for forestry
Developed countries may provide US$25 billion in interim funds to help countries such as Indonesia develop forestry sector programs to help mitigate the impacts of climate change, a minister says
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eveloped countries may provide US$25 billion in interim funds to help countries such as Indonesia develop forestry sector programs to help mitigate the impacts of climate change, a minister says.
The British Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change Joan Ruddock said Tuesday the fund would be used for forestry programs between 2010 and 2015.
“This week, we and many developed countries tried to determine how much interim funding could be provided,” Ruddock told The Jakarta Post after a meeting with Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati at the latter’s residence in Jakarta .
“The working group has said that this will probably be about $25 billion for between 2010 and 2015. There would be a global fund,” she said.
Ruddock added that she had exchanged views with Mulyani on how to further ensure the funds were made available.
“From our side, we are working on trying to get this commitment. We ask Indonesia to work on plans that can show what Indonesia requires from the world community,” she said.
Indonesia is host to the world’s third-largest forested area with about 120 million hectares of rainforest.
But the country also has the highest deforestation rate in the world with 1.08 million hectares lost to widespread illegal logging, forest fires and farmland conversion.
Indonesia has promised to cut its emissions from the forestry sector by 26 percent by 2020.
In a speech to G20 leaders on Sept. 25, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also pledged that Indonesia would slash its emissions by up to 41 percent from the energy and forestry sectors if provided with financial assistance from developed nations.
Addressing the developed countries’ proposal for forestry programs, Mulyani said the Forestry Ministry has already begun to put programs in place.
“We need to ensure they are in line with the new emission reduction target,” Mulyani said.
She added that she had explained to Ruddock how Indonesia managed the financing of climate change-related programs, including who received funds and how the decision-making process was implemented.
Ruddock, who will be in Indonesia until Nov. 18, has met several Indonesian stakeholders to discuss various issues ahead of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting in Copenhagen in December.
She will also launch a “British Embassy Act on Copenhagen” event at the British Embassy with Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo on Wednesday, Nov. 18.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned the world needs massive emissions cuts to reduce atmospheric CO2 concentration levels to prevent average global temperatures from rising by an additional 2 degrees Celsius.
The IPCC was set up by the World Meteorological Organization and UNEP.
An Asian Development Bank study predicted average temperatures could rise by up to 4.8 degrees Celsius by 2100 given current emissions, which could cause sea levels to rise by up to 70 centimeters.
