House close to ratifying Kyoto Protocol
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.