Government must ratify Kyoto Protocol: Experts

Government must ratify Kyoto Protocol: Experts

Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia must ratify the Kyoto Protocol as soon as possible to
benefit from its Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) even though
its application is pending Russia's ratification, experts on the
environment say.

"Our president has yet to sign the document to initiate
discussion on ratification in the House of Representatives.
Without the ratification, none of our efforts will have maximum
benefit," the secretary of the Ministry of the Environment, Arief
Yuwono, said on Thursday during the opening of a two-day workshop
on the mechanism that provides financial benefit from
industrialized nations for developing countries willing to curb
carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

Organized by non-governmental organization Pelangi, in
cooperation with the Ministry of Environment and the ASEAN
Secretariat, the workshop was attended by over 100 people from at
least five members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN).

The workshop mainly aims at creating standards for carbon
trading in the CDM among ASEAN members to prevent backstabbing or
uncompetitive rates.

CDM is basically a practice of trading carbon, in which
industrialized countries "buy" projects to be built in developing
nations that help reduce gas emissions (CO2) to slow down the
"greenhouse" effect caused by excessive CO2, mostly emitted in
industrialized countries.

These donating countries will then be granted a reduction of
their greenhouse gas emissions.

The ongoing efforts being conducted by these experts include
preparations to establish a Designated National Authority (DNA)
for hosting CDM projects.

"The agency is likely to be established here in April, and
will include experts from several related departments, such as
the environment, energy, forestry, and agriculture ministries, as
well as the National Development Planning Board," said executive
director of Pelangi Agus Sari.

With CDM, Indonesia is expected to reap close to US$1,260
million in the period from 2008 to 2012.

"We have the potential of up to 300 million tons of CO2 in
five years. If one ton is priced at US$5, calculate how much
we'll get. In addition, we'll also have environmentally friendly
projects that can ease our environmental crisis," said Liana
Bratasida, an expert on Global Environment at the Ministry of
Environment.

Projects that can be implemented in the CDM include: the
utilization of renewable energy, the replacement of fossil fuels
with renewable sources, the conducting of waste management, and
reforestation.

However, CDM will not go into practice until the Kyoto
Protocol comes into force internationally.

Conceived in 1997, the Kyoto Protocol commits industrialized
countries to reducing their greenhouse gas emission levels to 5.2
percent below 1990 levels during the period from 2008 to 2012.

It has been ratified by 39 industrialized countries, and is
awaiting Russia to meet the requirement that 55 percent of
industrial polluters be signed up. Russia accounts for 17.4
percent of CO2 emissions, and the remaining 39 countries account
for 44.2 percent.

Except Indonesia, Singapore, and Brunei, other ASEAN members
have ratified the Kyoto Protocol. Only Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia,
Thailand, and Vietnam have established their DNAs.