House expected to discuss Kyoto Protocol ratification<\/p>\n
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
After having the draft for ratification of the Kyoto Protocol on
\nher desk for more than a year, President Megawati Soekarnoputri
\nhas finally assigned the Office of the State Minister of the
\nEnvironment to discuss the draft with the House of Representatives
\nfor enactment into law.<\/p>\n
\"The assignment letter was signed on April 1, and we hope that
\nwe can seize this opportunity to finally ratify the protocol
\nbecause this is a very essential issue,\" State Minister of the
\nEnvironment Nabiel Makarim said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Now that the President has opened the way for ratification,
\nNabiel expected that the draft would be ratified by the current
\nmembers of the House's Commission VIII for environmental, science
\nand technology affairs.<\/p>\n
\"This is a very important issue. If we don't complete the
\nratification quickly, we could miss out on many beneficial
\nopportunities to compete with other countries,\" he added.<\/p>\n
The House is currently in recess, and is slated to commence on
\nApril 19 with its next plenary session.<\/p>\n
Nabiel was referring to the chance of benefiting from the
\nClean Development Mechanism (CDM) in the protocol that provides
\nfinancial benefits from industrialized countries for developing
\nnations willing to curb carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.<\/p>\n
The CDM is basically a practice of carbon trading, in which
\nindustrialized countries finance projects built in developing
\nnations that help reduce CO2 to slow down the greenhouse effect.
\nThese donating countries will then be granted leeway on the
\namount of their own greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n
A country can be involved in the mechanism only after it
\nratifies the Kyoto Protocol.<\/p>\n
Under the CDM, Indonesia, which is projected to produce up to
\n300 million tons of CO2 in five years, would qualify for project
\nfunds of close to US$1.26 billion.<\/p>\n
\"Besides which, we can benefit from reforestation projects,\"
\nNabiel affirmed.<\/p>\n
Reforestation is one of the types of projects that can be
\nimplemented under the CDM. Others are the utilization of
\nrenewable energy, replacement of fossil fuels with renewable
\nsources and waste management.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's annual deforestation rate is estimated at around
\n3.8 million hectares per year, contributing to over 25 percent of
\nthe world's annual total deforestation rate of about 15 million
\nhectares.<\/p>\n
Fellow Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member
\ncountries Singapore and Brunei Darussalam have ratified the Kyoto
\nProtocol.<\/p>\n
The Kyoto Protocol, which was conceived in 1997, binds
\nindustrialized countries to reducing their greenhouse gas
\nemission levels to 5.2 percent below 1990 levels during the
\nperiod from 2008 to 2012.<\/p>\n
The protocol is yet to come into force internationally,
\npending Russia's ratification.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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