This year is seen as a critical juncture for sustainability, especially October and November.

The United Nations biodiversity conference (COP16) in Cali, Colombia, has wrapped up just two weeks before the COP29 climate change conference kicks off 12,000 kilometers away in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku. These two gatherings are seen as the most crucial for determining whether we can find our way out of the two biggest crises in human history.

Both conferences should have been a global stage for Indonesia to shine, as the country is seen by many to number among the last remaining bastions of biodiversity and climate on our planet.

But Indonesian officials vanished when citizens of the world and the country needed them to step up at this dire time.

No high-ranking officials were spotted in the Indonesian delegation at COP16 to join negotiations about biological diversity, only low-ranking ministerial staffers who merely read out statements about Jakarta’s position on several issues.

These included Indonesia’s rejecting the establishment of an international body to recognize the conservation efforts of indigenous communities and local people. Indonesia also rejected a proposal to directly fund indigenous groups in protecting nature, saying that the money should instead be channeled through the central government for disbursing in line with the “national interest”.

The absence of cabinet-level officials has cost Indonesia an opportunity to benefit from, let alone lead, environmental talks that could help Global South countries navigate the double whammy of the biodiversity and climate crises.

To be sure, the global biodiversity conference opened in Colombia the day after Prabowo Subianto was inaugurated as president on Oct. 20 and on the same day he installed members of his Red and White Cabinet. While this might be a legitimate excuse for some ministers to skip COP16, we believe it was not compelling enough for our echelon I officials to bow out altogether.

Perhaps the President is aware of this wasted chance in Colombia, seeing as he is sending his big guns to Azerbaijan for COP29 led by his younger brother and businessman Hashim Djojohadikusumo, who has been appointed special presidential envoy to the climate conference that opens on Nov. 11.

After a meeting with members of Indonesia’s COP29 delegation, Hashim told reporters in Jakarta that he and the environment and forestry ministers would focus on presenting the country’s achievements on reducing carbon emissions, which form the basis of negotiations for carbon trading and other climate deals.

He even claimed the country could get a relatively high price of US$10 per tonne of CO2.

Hashim’s statement might be a sign that the government is finally getting serious about the Baku conference, where talks are expected to focus mainly on climate financing. In comparison, Indonesia has made a habit over the past decade of shying away from taking a leading position in global negotiations, especially if the issue isn’t in line with the ruling administration’s domestic interests.

But making a pre-event pledge is not enough. The real fight will be at the negotiation table in Baku, where Indonesia is expected to show a strong and serious commitment to climate mitigation and adaptation.

The new government can demonstrate its political will by issuing a policy framework to protect our forests across the archipelago that includes not cutting them down for the sake of food or energy security.

Sending our top officials to present compelling arguments on the environment at the global climate and biodiversity conferences is another measure, because only then can Indonesia seize the opportunity to reap their myriad benefits.