JP\/4\/MILAN<\/p>\n
Hopes still high for Kyoto Protocol enactment<\/p>\n
Stevie Emilia
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nMilan, Italy<\/p>\n
With developed countries reluctant to ratify an agreement to cut
\ncarbon dioxide emissions, hopes still remained for their change
\nof heart as some 4,000 participants gathered here to put pressure
\non the major states.<\/p>\n
As Russia continues to delay its ratification and the United
\nStates has openly refused to ratify, the treaty, known as the
\nKyoto Protocol, is again at stake at the ongoing 9th Session of
\nthe Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention.<\/p>\n
The Protocol is subject to ratification and will enter into
\nforce 90 days after the date on which it is signed by no less
\nthan 55 parties to the Convention -- including industrialized
\ncountries that represent at least 55 percent of the total carbon
\ndioxide emissions in 1990.<\/p>\n
According to Deputy Minister for Environmental Preservation
\nLiana Bratasida, who heads Indonesia's 18-member delegation to
\nthe 12-day conference, the Protocol offers a common ground upon
\nwhich to deal with issues of climatic change, as it prepares
\nframeworks and policies to address the problems, which is
\nparticularly relevant for an archipelagic country like Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"Think about our small islands that will vanish if the climate
\nchange gets worse,\" she told The Jakarta Post on Monday.<\/p>\n
Liana was preparing for the conference's two-day high-level
\nsession, which starts on Wednesday at the Fiera Milano Congress
\nCenter. Some 80 ministers from around the world are expected to
\nattend the session, to be addressed by Italian Prime Minister
\nSilvio Berlusconi.<\/p>\n
\"Around the world, people have started to experience the
\nimpacts of global warming and if the Kyoto fails, in my opinion,
\nit will be a disaster,\" Liana said.<\/p>\n
\"And it's sad if (it fails) just because developed countries
\nrefuse or delay the ratification -- all the efforts we've been
\nmaking for years will have been a waste of time and money.\"<\/p>\n
The international community adopted the Climate Change
\nConvention during the 1992 Earth Summit, aiming to stabilize
\natmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases at safe levels.<\/p>\n
In 1997, the Parties to the Convention agreed that by
\nconsensus that developed countries should make legally binding
\ncommitments to reduce their collective greenhouse gases by at
\nleast 5 percent from that of the 1990 level by the 2008-2012
\nperiod.<\/p>\n
Moekti H. Soejachmoen, deputy director of the Pelangi Research
\nInstitute that focuses on energy, forestry, transportation, air
\npollution and climate change issues, expressed his faith that the
\nProtocol will come into force after Russia's presidential
\nelection next year.<\/p>\n
If Russia fails to ratify the Protocol, Moekti said it would
\nbe a great waste, since the Protocol was 90 percent ready and
\nonly waiting to come into force.<\/p>\n
She said she felt confident of the Protocol, as several clean
\ndevelopment mechanism (CDM) projects on energy had already
\ncommenced and details on forestry CDM were being negotiated.<\/p>\n
\"So far, from the first day of the conference, from the
\nongoing process, in seems many people still believe the Protocol
\nwill eventually come into force,\" Moekti said.<\/p>\n
Under the CDM of the Kyoto Protocol, developed countries are
\nallowed to meet part of their carbon emission reduction
\ncommitments by carrying out reforestation and clean energy
\nprojects in developing countries.<\/p>\n
The mechanism has been designed with a dual goal: To achieve
\ncost-effective greenhouse gas mitigation for industrialized
\ncountries and to promote sustainable development in developing
\ncountries.<\/p>\n
In return for investing in a sustainable development project
\nthat cuts or avoids emissions in a developing country, companies
\nwill earn certified emission reductions that developed countries
\nmay use to meet their Kyoto commitments.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp4milan-1447899208",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}