House close to ratifying Kyoto Protocol
Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta
House of Representatives Commission I has no objections to a government proposal to ratify the Kyoto Protocol as part of the country's commitment to helping reduce global warming.
In a hearing with the Office of the State Minister for the Environment, Commission I, which handles environmental issues, agreed to the Kyoto Protocol Ratification bill the government submitted for deliberation.
The hearing was attended by commission leaders such as Effendi Choirie and Franky William Kaihatu, and State Minister for the Environment Nabiel Makarim.
The Kyoto Protocol basically regulates a manageable level of emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs), which could increase global warming.
The bill states that Indonesia is an archipelagic country and has the second largest shoreline in the world, therefore Indonesia is prone to climatic changes including a rise in sea levels.
Indonesia also has the second largest area of tropical forest in the world, thus it could affect the earth's climate, the bill says.
Minister Nabiel said that Indonesia would benefit from the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, with a possibility of gaining funds from GHGs emission reduction trading through clean development mechanism (CDM).
He said the CDM could help Indonesia to develop environmentally friendly technology.
"There are no disadvantages at all if we ratify the Kyoto Protocol," he said.
Commission I had earlier expressed fears that the Kyoto Protocol would affect various activities such as land conversion and mining activities in the future.
The United Development Faction (FPP) said that it was afraid that the Kyoto Protocol would reduce the country's income from coal mining.
Nabiel said there would be a limited impact of the Kyoto Protocol on coal mining due to the implementation of CDM projects as an independent body would study the feasibility of CDM projects.
He also said the independent body would consist of representatives from the government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and academics.
CDM is a mechanism whereby countries unable to reduce their own level of carbon emissions provide aid to developing countries through reforestation projects to ensure a reduction in carbon emissions in that country.
One ton of carbon emissions would translate into US$4 to $5 to be given in aid.
An international study reveals that the rapid increase in carbon dioxide emissions in the last 250 years is expected to continue for several decades to come.
If the predicted increases in greenhouse gas concentrations are then translated into temperature changes, a global temperature increase of between 1 and 5.5 degrees centigrade is predicted for 2100.
Sea levels are also predicted to rise by 20 cm to 60 cm due to a melting of the polar caps.