Sarwono warns of global warming threat
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja expressed his concern yesterday over the growing threat of global warming and the ensuing climatic change.
Speaking after opening the Regional Workshop on Activities Implemented Jointly and Measures to Reduce Emissions of Greenhouse Gases at the Hotel Indonesia, Sarwono called for a concerted effort to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases which cause global warming.
"According to a 1992 estimate, we'll have to move 110 million Indonesians to higher ground if the sea level continues to rise as the result of global warming and climatic change," he was quoted by Antara as saying.
"We need to reduce gas emissions and preserve natural resources," he said.
The greenhouse gases include CO2, CH4, and NO, which are emitted after the use of fossil-based fuels and rise into the atmosphere. When the amount of the gases increases, the earth's temperature increases as well.
Rising global temperatures will melt icebergs at the north and south poles and consequently cause the sea level to rise.
Sarwono pointed out that many Indonesians living in coastal areas would suffer from the rising sea level. "Paddy fields and plains will be swamped, not to mention a couple of islands which would sink as well," he said. "To cap it off, Indonesia will also experience cyclones and tornadoes that rarely occur in this country."
The workshop was initiated by the Office of the United States Initiative on Joint Implementation (USIJI), the Indonesian Ministry of Environment, The Environmental Agency of Japan and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia. It is one in a series of workshops co-sponsored by USIJI as part of President Clinton's Climate Change Action Plan. The event is scheduled to last until tomorrow.
"I hope that Indonesia could learn from the attending experts here about how to develop technology to reduce the gas emissions," said Sarwono.
He also mentioned that Indonesia established the National Committee on Climate Change in 1989. The committee has completed the greenhouse gases emission inventory under the assistance of the US Country Studies Program. The results, he said, "would soon be printed".
Indonesia signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) along with more than 150 other nations at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio Janeiro. The workshop itself has gained acknowledgement from the UNFCCC.
The opening of the workshop was also attended by the United States Ambassador to Indonesia Stapleton Roy. Roy told the audience that President Clinton had already stated that the US must take the lead in addressing the challenge of global warming that could make our planet become more hostile to human life.
"But clearly, climatic change is a global threat. The climate can only be protected by cooperation between all nations," Roy said. (06)