Waiting game is over for controversial Kyoto Protocol<\/p>\n
Stevie Emilia, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The tense, grim expressions on the faces of environmentalists and
\nscientists who support the Kyoto Protocol will be a thing of the
\npast after their seven-year wait officially ends on Wednesday,
\nwhen the treaty finally becomes effective.<\/p>\n
In Indonesia, which ratified the treaty last year, the moment
\nis being warmly greeted by environmental activists who view it as
\na victory for multilateralism over unilateralism.<\/p>\n
"It is also a sign that the rest of the world can move
\nmultilaterally, even with the hegemony of the United States,"
\nsaid Agus P. Sari, executive director of Pelangi, an
\nenvironmental policy research institute.<\/p>\n
Under the treaty, developed countries are required to enter
\ninto legally binding commitments to reduce their collective
\ngreenhouse gases by at least 5 percent from 1990 levels by the
\n2008 to 2012 period.<\/p>\n
However, there was a seven-year wait for the treaty to become
\neffective since it had to be signed by no fewer than 55 parties,
\nincluding developed countries representing at least 55 percent of
\ntotal carbon dioxide emissions in 1990.<\/p>\n
With Russia's ratification last year, the world did not have
\nto wait much longer for big emitter the U.S., which has refused
\nto ratify the protocol, believing it would hurt its economy. Its
\nonly ally now is Australia.<\/p>\n
Agus said the treaty was not only about emissions reductions
\nbut also about coping with the impact of climate change, as well
\nas the transfer of clean technology and capacity building.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, he said, would benefit greatly because it was
\nvulnerable with regard to climate change, which, he added, might
\npose risks to the country's coastal areas with rising sea levels.<\/p>\n
"The Kyoto Protocol will allow Indonesia to increase its
\nresilience to climate change, for instance, by increasing its
\ncapacity to adapt to rising sea levels, prolonged droughts,
\nshortened but intensified rains and to climate change-related
\n`natural disasters,'" he said.<\/p>\n
WWF Indonesia climate and energy program coordinator Eka
\nMelisa said the treaty was a step toward containing the climate
\nchange threat at a manageable level.<\/p>\n
"As a country with a unique profile of climate change,
\nIndonesia's greenhouse gases have spiraled due to rapid
\ndevelopment in the energy sector, while its vulnerable
\ncommunities and ecosystems have suffered from climate change.
\nAdaptation has become a significant necessity for Indonesia and
\nsupport is essential," Eka said.<\/p>\n
She also pointed out that with the treaty becoming effective,
\na new market revolution -- a carbon market -- would emerge,
\nwhereby companies and countries in the Kyoto Club, an unofficial
\nname for countries that have ratified the treaty, would be
\nobliged to value their CO2 emissions as they would now have a
\nformal price tag.<\/p>\n
As a result of this progress, she said, companies from
\ndeveloped countries that had or would have investment in
\ndeveloping countries such as Indonesia, would have to calculate
\nthe total emission they would produce and, ultimately, would have
\nto choose more clean energy sources and\/or sustainable technology
\nfor every new investment.<\/p>\n
"Developing countries like Indonesia will have the chance to
\nuse this development as an incentive to change their energy
\nsector to become more clean and sustainable," Eka said.<\/p>\n
However, to benefit directly from this emerging market, she
\nsaid Indonesia had to be fully prepared domestically and to
\ncomplete all the steps needed to become a host country for such a
\nproject, such as by launching a designated national authority as
\nsoon as possible and establishing domestic climate change
\npolicies.<\/p>\n
Agus said Indonesia had about 250 million tons of emission
\nreduction potential that could be certified under the carbon
\ntrade mechanism in the period between 2008 and 2012.<\/p>\n
"This means about US$1.25 billion, if (the carbon is) valued
\nat $5 per ton. Usually, this is what motivates many developing
\ncountries to ratify the Kyoto Protocol," he said.<\/p>\n
However, controversy over the protocol, as well as climate
\nchange issues, still exist. But Agus said the number of
\nscientists who agreed that climate change was already occurring
\nand would continue to worsen in the future was much greater than
\nthose who took the opposite view.<\/p>\n
"I have seen the science and I agree that the risk we are
\nfacing is great, clear and serious," said Agus, a lead author of
\nthe Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on
\nClimate Change, the world's most authoritative scientific body on
\nclimate change.<\/p>\n
"Risks are, by definition, a statistical inference. But risks
\nwork both ways -- they can get better, or worse. And the research
\nshows that the likelihood of being worse is much greater than
\nbeing better.<\/p>\n
"It also shows that we don't know everything, but what we
\nalready know is enough to warrant action," he said.<\/p>\n
He acknowledged more steps were needed, as well as more
\nradical reductions, to achieve the goal of a "safe level" of
\nclimate change-inducing greenhouse gas concentrations in the
\natmosphere.<\/p>\n
"The protocol is an essential first step, the key to starting
\nmore initiatives in the future. And this is what should keep us
\noptimistic."<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/waiting-game-is-over-for-controversial-kyoto-protocol-1447893297",
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