RI eyes benefit from Kyoto Protocol
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia is in talks with a number of industrialized countries regarding environmentally friendly projects that take advantage of opportunities in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), a ramification of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol that takes effect internationally on Wednesday.
The long-awaited protocol commits developed countries grouped in Annex 1 to slash their carbon dioxide (CO2) emission levels by 5.2 percent from their 1990 levels, and Indonesia is offering projects to help them beat the 2012 deadline.
Among countries that have shown interest in Indonesia's offers -- mostly in the energy and forestry sectors -- are the Netherlands, Japan, Denmark, Austria and Canada, said Sudariyono, the deputy for environmental conservation at the Office of the State Minister of Environment.
"The Netherlands wants to 'buy' carbon by investing in power plants that already have plans and resources to switch into new technology that reduce carbon emissions, like from coal to geothermal," Sudariyono explained.
Japan, on the other hand, was also wanting to fund technology change. They also have more varied interests, such as in the forestry, transportation and waste management sectors, he added.
The CDM is basically a carbon trading scheme in which industrialized nations invest in environmental projects in developing countries that reduce greenhouse gases (GHG).
These countries will pay a certain amount of money for each ton of carbon saved, and then be granted a reduction in their emission levels until they reach the 5.2 percent cut off point.
Under the UN accord, the carbon market is one of three ways aimed at reducing carbon pollution, the main culprit in causing global warming, by curbing the use of coal, oil and natural gas, and shifting to cleaner energies like solar and wind power.
Kyoto Protocol took effect 90 days after Russia ratified it. A major polluter, Russia was the pact's key nation after the biggest polluters, like the United States and Australia, pulled out, saying it was too costly and unfairly exempted rapidly industrializing, but non-Annex 1, countries like China and India.
Rising global temperatures have been linked to extreme weather events, like droughts, flooding and higher sea levels. Experts predict that average temperatures will rise 4.5 degrees Celsius by 2100 unless immediate steps are taken to reduce GHG emissions into the atmosphere.
Another project type available in the CDM is reforestation, where industrialized countries can help regrow Indonesia's perishing forests that are disappearing at the rate of 3.5 million hectares per year due to uncontrolled logging.
Sudariyono, who will chair the national commission on CDM, said the government was also familiarizing carbon-emitting firms here with the mechanisms.
"We'll benefit so much by getting in new investment and also a cleaner environment. We could also stall rising air temperatures," he said, adding that Indonesia emits up to 35 million tons of carbon per year.
Sudariyono emphasized the need for Indonesia to be aggressive in approaching advanced nations in order to compete with neighboring countries in obtaining the economic benefits provided by the Kyoto Protocol.
"We'll offer more qualified projects that reduce more carbon, a guarantee that the projects will be sustainable and of course, a more negotiable price of carbon," he said.
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