Failure in Copenhagen for the world’s nations to reach a legally binding agreement at last December’s climate change talks has raised serious doubt as to whether the United Nations will ever be able to deliver a treaty on this vital issue.
But political deadlock at the international level does not mean the challenge of climate change will diminish. And it certainly does not alleviate the pressure on individual governments to introduce measures to tackle the problem.
On the contrary, delay in the collective process to introduce a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, will surely highlight a growing need for individual country action.
Accusations that the Indonesian climate change delegation did not consult with the House of Representatives and others inevitably adds further stress on the government to institute a convincing plan.
One of the surprises in the lead up to the Copenhagen summit was the ambitious greenhouse gas targets to be announced by major developing countries.
One by one, Brazil, China, India, Mexico, South Africa and Indonesia all exceeded expectations, conveying commitments to keeping their carbon dioxide emissions below agreed levels.
In contrast to 12 years ago in Kyoto, where developing countries were almost inconsequential at the talks, developing nations went to Copenhagen determined to play an active role in battle to combat climate change.
Indonesia led the charge as the first developing nation to announce a commitment to cut emissions by 26 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono traveled to Denmark where he gave a convincing speech to the summit’s plenary session, emphasizing the importance of urgent action to alleviate the impacts of global warming, and urging nations to reach a legally binding agreement.
And as one of the 26 countries to sign the Copenhagen Accord, Indonesia has further shown its credentials as a leading developing world voice on climate change.
Now the environmentalists are eagerly awaiting the government’s soon-to-be-completed report on the specifics as how it will fulfill its CO2 reduction promises.
In spite of some skepticism, there seems to be a general consensus among Indonesia’s opinion leaders, that fighting climate change must be a priority for this country.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, there is now a real prospect that the United States legislature will fail to pass a long-debated emissions trading bill that is heading for the Senate in March.
Concern that the single biggest CO2 emitter may delay introducing any legally empowered reduction measures will increase the frustration of environmental campaigners intent on ensuring that global temperatures don’t exceed a further 2 degrees Centigrade.
The debacle in Copenhagen and President Obama’s struggle to pass legislation in the US is bound to increase environmental campaigners focus on the corporate sector.
With growing momentum from companies to reduce their carbon emissions, there will be increasing belief that if governments can’t fix the problem, then let’s make sure that business can and does.
This thinking will lead to more demands being directly made of business from activists pushing to keep greenhouse gases from rising to such levels where climate change could become irreversible.
Greenpeace has been protesting against the palm oil and pulp and paper industries in Indonesia, arguing that forestry companies are contributing to the problem with unsustainable practices.
The group set a so-called “Climate Defenders” camp in the Kampar Peninsular in the Sumatran province of Riau, where it accused companies of damaging the natural absorbers and retainers of carbon.
But there is evidence of Indonesian companies addressing the concerns being raised by environmentalists. Some of the more enlightened and progressive have introduced strict conservation measures as well as their own emissions reductions targets.
Regardless of the complex machinations through which the international climate change talks will now go, climate change is firmly on both Indonesia’s government and corporate agendas.
As an archipelago of islands surrounding by worryingly rapid rising sea levels, there is a growing sense of reality that left unchecked, adverse climate impacts will reap devastation across this nation.
Indonesia also stands to gain considerable economic benefits from embracing the new technologies associate with clean energy solutions.
This country first gained its reputation for its strong commitment to halting global warming when it hosted the UN summit in Bali in 2007.
And in addition to government action, there are now responsible companies introducing their own climate change alleviation strategies in Indonesia.
The journey to find a solution to what must surely be the biggest problem facing the world began 17 years ago at the Earth Summit in Rio De Janeiro. It may be bumpy with lots of starts and stops, but it is only a matter of time before politicians see sense and an international agreement is reached.
Meanwhile, don’t expect the issue to go quiet in Indonesia.
Jonathan Wootliff leads the Corporate Accountability practice at the consulting firm, Reputation Partners. He specializes in sustainable development and in building of productive relationships between companies and NGOs. He can be contacted at jonathan@reputationpartners.com and can be followed on Twitter.
