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nvironmentalists lamented that neither of the presidential candidates contesting the July 9 election had mentioned plans to manage the issue of climate change if elected to lead the country for the next five years.

National Council on Climate Change (DNPI) secretary Agus Purnomo said that the presidential candidates had shown almost no commitment to reducing the country'€™s greenhouse gas emissions, which had been on the government'€™s agenda since 2009.

'€œBut indeed there is still time for them to reveal their plans on the issue on July 5 [the last pre-election debate],'€ Agus said on Sunday.

During the 2009 G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pledged his commitment to reduce greenhouse emissions with government funds by 26 percent by 2020 '€” equivalent to around 767 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) '€” or up to 41 percent with foreign aid.

Greenhouse gas concentration in an area should not exceed 450 parts per million (ppm) in order to maintain the temperature of the earth. However, in Bali, the level has reached around 427 ppm, although the Bali Environment Agency (BLH) said that the island'€™s air condition was still considered good.

The level did drop to 375 ppm during the 2013 Balinese Hindu Day of Silence, Nyepi, as no activities were conducted for 24 hours, but the overall level of greenhouse gas emissions on the island was still high on normal days.

Therefore, Agus expected that both candidates would show their clear commitment toward continuing the existing government'€™s plans on the issue during the last two debates, scheduled for June 29 (for vice presidential candidates) and July 5 (for both pairs).

According to him, there were still many groups of voters that had yet to decide their preference in the presidential election and expected candidates to present their views on the issue beforehand. Thus, a clear sign of commitment on environmental issue would help attract these swing voters, he said.

'€œThere are groups that are confused which candidate they will choose. I believe a clear sign of attention to the environment may make them decide,'€ he said.

Two pairs, Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa and Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo-Jusuf Kalla, will vie for the country'€™s top posts on July 9.

Meanwhile, manager for Indonesia Climate Change Center (ICCC), Farhan Helmi, said his side '€” along with the DNPI and several environmental NGOs '€” would hold a survey to ask the public what was needed for a candidate to show commitment to environmental issues.

Through the survey, Farhan hoped that the candidates would state their plans during the next televised debates to let the public know and to make sure that the environmental programs would be implemented.

In addition, Farhan said he would collaborate with environmentalists to gather public opinion related to the issue and present it in advertisements to help create awareness among the public.