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.