RI hopes dim as Bali talks near end

RI hopes dim as Bali talks near end

Berni K. Moestafa, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali

No one in the Indonesian delegation has openly admitted it,
but the mood is there: that it is increasingly more difficult to
secure aid and stronger commitments from developed countries
during negotiations on sustainable development.

"This is the time where I would like you to say a prayer for
us," said Slamet Hidayat, an Indonesian delegate in a press
briefing on Friday. Negotiations have reached a critical stage."

Discussion over an action plan known as the Chairman's Text,
later to be named the Bali Commitment, is entering its fifth day
since it formally began on Monday.

Delegates from around the globe have gathered in Bali to
produce the final draft of the action plan, which may benefit
Indonesia with more aid to tackle poverty, environmental and
social problems.

Indonesia has only until Saturday night to push for its
demands, Slamet said. On Monday delegates are expected to move on
to the political text of the action plan to be signed by heads of
states at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in
Johannesburg, South Africa in late August.

Slamet said foreign delegates were complaining that having the
meeting in Bali was useless, as they were unable to enjoy the
island because of the intensive meetings.

Already behind schedule, and with some of the major issues yet
unresolved, the tight deadline is likely to put a strain on
negotiators.

For Indonesia, other interests outside that of the Chairman's
Text may also influence its position during talks.

"Our interests in this negotiation cannot be separated from
the fact that we are hosting it," Slamet said on Thursday. "We
have been told by the United Nations to conclude the negotiation
on the action plan in Bali; our goal is to do just that."

The Chairman's Text was supposed to be finalized at the last
preparatory committee meeting in New York.

Another Indonesian delegate, when asked what would be done if
negotiations were not coming to a conclusion, said the government
would give up some of its demands.

The Bali Commitment aims to set the tone for the development
of the globe over the next 10 years, giving priority to
sustainable development as overexploitation of natural resources
threatens future generations.

For developing countries a global campaign to reverse this
trend could translate into more aid to alleviate poverty and
preserve natural resources, which otherwise would not be possible
under their limited state budgets.

Indonesia must fork out some 40 percent of its budget on debt
payments, leaving little room to invest in sustainable
development measures. Widespread poverty and environmental
degradation are the consequences.

But chances to secure new financial resources during the talks
in Bali are fading, with the Indonesian delegation reporting
little progress on these issues.

Three working groups are discussing the Chairman's Text. As of
Friday the text was also being discussed at the plenary session,
to speed up talks.

Djumala Darmansjah, representing Indonesia at working group II
on means of implementation, said discussion was progressing in
terms of the number of paragraphs agreed upon.

However requests to include more aid, a new debt payment
scheme and greater market access into developed countries in the
Chairman's Text, remain unanswered.

Indonesia has proposed that developing countries should be
allowed to tap funds of the International Monetary Fund (IMF),
called the Special Drawing Rights (SDR), to finance sustainable
development programs.

Djumala said that the U.S. delegation only agreed to mention
this possibility without actually intending to implement it.

"They (the U.S.) use a very weak formulation by saying they
recognize the value of the SDR, while we have formulated it as
developing ways of using SDR," he explained.

A second proposal that received a cold response was that of
repaying debts through sustainable development programs under a
scheme known as debt and sustainable development swaps. The U.S.
wants to know more details of this idea."

Djumala said Indonesia stood a better chance with its third
unanswered request for greater market access for products of
developing countries.

Unilateral sanctions, which developed countries use to
restrict market access, are a violation of the World Trade
Organization's (WTO) rules, said Djumala.

Indonesia, like most developing countries, is represented by
Venezuela under the Group of 77 (G-77). The G-77 is the
developing countries' negotiation instrument at international
forums.

However, Indonesia under the G-77 may have to waive its
request for greater commitment from developed countries, as the
U.S. showed no sign of backing down.

Debates on whether or not to include time targets in the
Chairman's Text have advanced little, despite the EU backing the
G-77.

Non-government organizations have expressed concern that
without clear time targets, governments would neglect the Bali
Commitment. It would then follow the fate of Agenda 21 -- the
first action plan on sustainable development agreed on at the
1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

A U.S. delegate said the most his government could do was to
agree on time targets on social issues such as poverty reduction
programs.

Djumala said earlier that the U.S. might compromise by
agreeing on the time targets that were already part of an earlier
pledge under the UN Millennium Goals in September 2000.

Although this compromise would only require the U.S. to repeat
its two-year old pledge, according to Djumala this would be
better than nothing.