Environment conventions yet to be applied effectively

Environment conventions yet to be applied effectively

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Indonesia has been unable to effectively implement three United
Nations (UN) conventions relating to environment protection due
to the classic problems of lack of information dissemination and
weak coordination.

Officials at the Office of the State Minister of the
Environment disclosed on Thursday the findings of the National
Capacity Self-Assessment (NCSA) Project regarding the country's
ability to implement the UN Convention on Biological Diversity
(UNCBD), the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), which is
defined here as the UN Convention to Combat Land Degradation.

The country ratified the UNCBD and the UNFCCC in 1994, while
it adopted the UNCCD in 1998.

"The self-assessment findings show that the implementation of
the three conventions has not been optimum because of a weak
capacity in three levels -- system, institutional and
individual," said the NCSA report, which was based on an
assessment carried out from April 2004 to October 2005.

NCSA project manager Hernowo said the absence of a legal frame
work, weak coordination among stakeholders, as well as low public
awareness were among the problems that hindered effective
implementation of the three UN conventions.

"We discovered that many high-level state officials weren't
aware of the existence of the conventions and that many
government institutions did not refer to the conventions when
formulating policies," he said.

The UNCBD requires the state to protect and sustain the rich
biodiversity in its territory, while the UNFCCC stipulates the
state must carry out a program to reduce carbon emissions and the
UNCCD states that the country must prevent land degradation by,
among other things, curbing erosion.

Assistant to the State Minister of the Environment Liana
Bratasida said the country had lots of catching up to do because
other countries, such as China and India, had effectively
implemented the conventions.

"We ratified these conventions over a decade ago, but we're
still facing the same classic issues -- lack of coordination,
weak promotion and an absence of law enforcement. We should be
ashamed that as a mega biodiverse country with abundant natural
resources we can't report any progress," she said.

Liana suggested that promoting the UN conventions should
target a great variety of groups and should be conveyed through
language that is easily understood.

"For example, if we promote the conventions to artists then we
have to use musical instruments or something attractive," said
the assistant minister for global environment affairs and
international cooperation.

She added that a national coordinating body should also be
established to manage communication between various institutions
-- government, NGOs and the private sector -- as well as to
monitor the implementation of the conventions.

Fauna and Flora International (FFI) policy advisor Enny
Sudarmonowati said the absence of a long-term plan to implement
the conventions was the reason why Indonesia performed poorly in
executing the conventions.

"Our government officials come and go according to the shift
of power. If only we had a master plan on how to turn the
conventions into action, changing state officials would not
affect the government's work," she stressed.