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RI wants united front in mitigation efforts

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is calling for shared efforts from both developed and developing nations to address climate change ahead of the upcoming UN climate talks, COP21, in Paris at the end of the month

Ina Parlina and Hans Nicholas Jong (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Fri, November 27, 2015

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RI wants united front in mitigation efforts

P

resident Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo is calling for shared efforts from both developed and developing nations to address climate change ahead of the upcoming UN climate talks, COP21, in Paris at the end of the month.

Leaders from 200 countries are expected to meet on Nov. 30 during the leaders'€™ event at the summit, which is expected to produce the first global commitment to cut emissions, which will extend or replace the Kyoto Protocol.

The Foreign Ministry'€™s director general of economic development and environmental affairs, Toffery P. Soetikno, said Indonesia would demand that developed countries contribute more to supporting developing countries in their efforts to reduce carbon emissions through, for example, increased financial support.

'€œThere are differences [in the amount of carbon emitted]. We ask developed countries to put in more effort, while developing countries also contribute to addressing this issue,'€ Toffery said on Thursday.

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi has said that Jokowi will also address the importance of respecting the principle of common but differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities.

Jokowi is set to arrive in Paris on Nov. 29 and is scheduled to deliver his statement during the leaders'€™ event on Nov. 30.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said Indonesia would also seek political push for the joint efforts.

Jokowi has used various international forums in the past weeks, for example, the G20 Summit and the ASEAN Summit, to call on developed countries to act as role models in reducing carbon emissions, leading the action to make cuts, as well as to support the efforts of developing countries. Jokowi has also demanded that developed countries increase their financial contributions to developing countries and participate in technology transfers and capacity building.

Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said earlier that Jokowi would also bring to the table issues related to peatland management and fires.

'€œPeatland [fires and management] has become a global issue; therefore, Indonesia, of course, hopes the world also thinks about the issue,'€ Pramono said on Wednesday. '€œSo, stop placing blame [ on us when fires occur] but treat us as the lungs of the world when nothing [no fire] occurs [here].'€

Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, who is also Singapore'€™s coordinating national security minister, recently expressed his commitment to work with Indonesia to prevent haze in the future, while Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said during the recent ASEAN Summit that each member should work hand in hand to find solutions to the haze issue and other environmental problems.

During a national tree-planting event at the Sultam Adam Forest Park in South Kalimantan on Thursday morning, Jokowi renewed the government'€™s commitment to reduce carbon emissions by 29 percent by 2030, as laid out its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC), an outline of the post-2020 climate actions a country intends to take to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gasses.

A number of countries have submitted their INDCs, which are expected to shape negotiations at COP21.

'€œWe also urge developed industrial countries and developing countries to share a similar commitment [to reducing carbon emissions],'€ Jokowi said.

Meanwhile, the government, through the Finance Ministry, plans to establish a management body (BLU) tasked to manage the country'€™s climate change funding in a bid to woo donors during COP21.

Climate Change Mitigation Board chairman Sarwono Kusumaatmadja said on Thursday that the government was designing the mechanism of the BLU.

'€œEnvironment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar is having intensive discussions with Coordinating Economic Minister Sofyan Djalil and Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro,'€ he said. '€œIt looks like we can achieve something ahead of Paris and announce the principles that we want to adopt for our climate change finance mechanism.'€

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