NGOs call for 60 percent reduction in CO2 emissions
NGOs call for 60 percent reduction in CO2 emissions
JAKARTA (JP): Local non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
called on the government yesterday to commit itself to a
reduction of carbon dioxide emissions of at least 60 percent by
the year 2030.
"As an archipelagic country, Indonesia will be significantly
affected by global climate changes... Therefore it must play a
more proactive role in dealing with the issue," said Muhammad
Anung from the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) in a press
conference.
Walhi, together with six other local NGOs, belongs to the
Indonesian core group of the Climate Action Network Southeast
Asia (CANSEA), based in Manila. The other local groups involved
are Pelangi Indonesia, the Geni Nastiti Foundation, the Gugus
Analisis Foundation, Perintis, the Indonesian Consumers
Protection Agency and the Indonesian Foundation for the
Advancement of Biological Sciences.
Future climate changes are predicted to affect the lives of
some 1.2 million people in Indonesia, especially those living on
the coastline, whose land will decrease as the sea level rises.
Anung said CANSEA's Indonesia core group had proposed that the
government adopt the "1988 Toronto Target", which aims at
reducing carbon dioxide by 20 percent of its 1988 level by the
year 2005, and by a further 50 percent by 2030.
The group also insists that a carbon tax should be levied on
industrialized countries and says there should be cooperation
between developed and developing countries in seeking renewable
energy sources. It also called on the government to prohibit the
relocation of industries producing high levels of carbon monoxide
to Indonesia.
The proposal will be given to the Indonesian delegation to the
first official Conference of Parties, to be held from March 28 to
April 7 in Berlin, which will be attended by signatories of the
global Convention on Climate Change.
The conference is expected to make concrete decisions on a
global action plan calling for a reduction of carbon dioxide
emissions.
Anung explained that developing countries could actually
afford to increase their carbon dioxide emission by about 30
percent since it had not reached the critical level that many
industrialized countries had already reached.
Efficiency
He said that for developing countries, it was more important
to improve the efficiency of industries and other carbon-
producing sources so that emissions did not exceed the critical
level.
Hadi Pramono from the Indonesian Foundation for the
Advancement of Biological Sciences pointed out that industrial
countries, which are in fact the world's main carbon dioxide
producers, have an equally great responsibility to reduce their
carbon emissions.
He said that joint implementation programs, such as the
funding of reforestation programs in developing countries, were
not enough to pay for the damage caused by the developed
countries' carbon emissions.
"They think they can produce as much carbon as they like just
because they have helped to fund reforestation programs...This is
not the case. We must somehow teach them to reduce their carbon
emission... Changing their lifestyle is the key," Hadi said.
Although European countries have started showing their
goodwill in this, "it seems that Americans find it very hard to
change their luxurious lifestyles. This is very disadvantageous
since they are the major carbon dioxide emitters," he said.
The United States has not ratified the convention on climate
change.
"In the end, industrial nations should reduce their carbon
emission levels on one hand and we must increase the efficiency
of our industries on the other, so that the carbon emissions
caused by development in our economy does not exceed the critical
level," he said.(pwn)