World countries too slow in tackling climate change: VP

Vice President Boediono criticized every nation for moving too slowly in dealing with human-induced climate change despite its severe impact on people’s lives across the globe, including in Indonesia.
He said December’s Copenhagen summit “failed to produce expected results”.
A global agreement to tackle increasing temperatures is vital as the existing Kyoto Protocol is set to expire, Boediono said.
“Governments of the world have responded too slowly and too incoherently to act on problems that are beginning to seriously impact all of us, our lives and indeed eventually the existence of the human race,”
he said.
Boediono made the statement during the opening of an international workshop on climate change hosted by the University of Indonesia (UI) on Thursday.
A two-day seminar held in cooperation with universities under the Asia Pacific Rim University (APRU) organization will present research from Australia, China, Singapore, Japan and North America.
Boediono said the world did not seem to have the will to tackle the longer term impacts of climate change.
“Faced with the more immediate problem of dealing with the fallout from the financial crisis, the
world does not seem to have the sufficient will to tackle the longer term problems of climate change,” Boediono, who is also a noted economist, said.
In terms of Indonesia, Boediono said the effects of climate change have been very real, affecting the sectors of agriculture, fisheries, forestry and water supply.
“The best strategy for us is to start taking action within our purview to mitigate and adapt to the new conditions,” he said.
“But individual countries’ actions do not substitute for global coordinated efforts.”
Indonesia was one of the first developing countries to commit to reducing emissions to help the global efforts to tackle climate change.
The government has vowed to voluntarily cut 26 percent of the country’s emissions by 2020 from forestry, energy and waste sectors by spending some Rp 83 trillion (US$9.1 billion) of the state budget.
The country promises to slash another 15 percent if rich nations provide Rp 168 trillion in financial assistance to Indonesia.
Delegates from around the world are slated to hold a climate summit this year to hammer out a new binding agreement on emissions cuts after the Copenhagen summit failed to reach the binding treaty last year.
UI rector Gumilar Somantri said the university would set up a center to research climate and environmental issues.
“The center will also conduct ocean research to understand its capacity in mitigating climate change,” Gumilar said.
Director of Conservation International Jatna Supriatna said the country needed to research into how the nation will meet the promised emissions cut of 26 percent.
“We have identified at least 30 researchers at UI itself that could run research on climate change,” he said.
Managing director of the APRU World Institute, Richard Drobnik said that universities under the APRU could hold a comparative study across different countries to see how each manages climate change.
Boediono also asked the seminar of APRU World Institute to produce recommendations to improve understanding in the problem of climate change and reinvigorate resolve to deal with its challenges.