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Activists demand Indonesian climate leadership during G20 presidency
“The government often sugarcoats its promises and commitments at international forums. They look shiny from the outside but not from the inside,” one youth activist said.
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Hundreds of activists and students take to the streets in Jakarta on Sept. 20, 2019, as part of the climate strike movement to demand that the government to take climate change mitigation more seriously. (JP/A. Muh. Ibnu Aqil)
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ndonesia should use its year-long Group of 20 presidency to lead member countries in the delivery of their climate commitments, youth activists have said.
On Dec. 1, Indonesia assumed the G20 presidency, taking the mantle from the previous president, Italy. A handover ceremony was held in Rome in late October, a few days before the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, the United Kingdom.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, in a speech on Dec. 1, said the country sought to strengthen global solidary in mitigating climate change and nurturing sustainable development. He said he would encourage developed countries to increase their climate aid contributions to developing countries.
Read also: Collaboration 'key' as Jokowi kicks off G20 presidency
Student activist Naifah Uziah of the University of Indonesia (UI) community Fossil Free UI said the country should “walk the talk” on its promise to focus on climate change during its G20 presidency, adding that Indonesia’s domestic policies must also be aligned with its international climate position.
“Indonesia needs to show its seriousness in its climate actions. We don’t need ‘clean’ or ‘unabated’ coal; we need to keep it under the ground and start using clean, renewable energy,” said Naifa, referring to the country’s longstanding reliance on coal for power generation.
She said previous G20 summits had produced a lot of commitments but that relatively few had been realized.
