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.