Erwida Maulia, The Jakarta Post 22 Apr 09;
Indonesia expects the upcoming World Ocean Conference (WOC) in Manado in May 11-15 to produce a joint declaration incorporating the importance of sea into climate change adaptation program.
It also expects that the country participants will agree on technology transfer and corporation, as well as information exchanges, to help each country adapt with the ongoing climate change.
A total of 121 countries have confirmed their participation in the event, which is one of the world's biggest environmental events of the year.
Over 4,900 people, including heads of states, senior government officials, experts and observers, and NGO activists will gather in the North Sulawesi capital of Manado for the conference, which will be followed by the regional environmental event Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) Summit.
The CTI Summit will be attended by heads of six nations home to the so-called coral triangle, comprising Indonesia, East Timor, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Solomon Islands.
"We hope that (what is produced in) the Manado Ocean Declaration will be incorporated into talks during the UNFCCC COP 15 meeting in Copenhagen in December," Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Freddy Numberi said in a press conference after a Cabinet meeting on the WOC and CTI Summit preparation at the Presidential Palace on Wednesday.
"Surely we have to work hard in this context; to determine what's next after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. With the Manado Ocean Declaration, we hope that the ocean dimension will later on play a more significant role in (any new agreement) after the Kyoro Protocol," he added.
Freddy added that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had hoped that the country's organization of the two events would improve the current image of Indonesia as one of the biggest emmittors of greenhouse gases.
Regarding the CTI, Freddy said donor countries had granted US$70 million through the Global Environmental Fund (GEF) for the conservation of coral reefs, marine resources and ecosystem of the region.
Indonesia, he added, has received $40 million from the United States alone for the same purpose, and aims at getting the largest portion of the GEF funds for being an initiator to the CTI.
Indonesia also wants the secretariat of the CTI to be built in North Sulawesi.
The CTI Summit is expected to produce regional action plans that can be implemented in each country member.
North Sulawesi governor HS Sarundajang said his region was ready to welcome participants of the two big events, saying infrastructure and facilities such as roads, bridges, electricity, clean water, as well as land, sea and air transportation had been prepared.
He added that the number of flights to and from Manado would be also increased.
Guests will be served in 18 star-rate hotels with 1,862 rooms and 24 nonstar-rate hotels with 719 rooms.
Sarundajang also said the two big events were expected to boost economic growth of eastern Indonesia, particularly that of North Sulawesi.
Placing Oceans on Climate Agenda Major Goal of WOC
Fidelis E. Satriastanti, The Jakarta Globe 24 Apr 09;
The government hopes to lobby foreign delegates to incorporate marine and coastal issues into the global climate change agenda during the upcoming World Ocean Conference in Manado, North Sulawesi Province, an official said on Friday.
Up to 5,000 people from 121 countries are expected to attend the conference, to be held May 11-14. A summit for the six-nation Coral Triangle Initiative follows on May 15.
“In one part of the [draft agreement for the conference], we urge the Adaptation Fund Board of the UNFCCC [United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change] to incorporate oceans and coastal areas into climate change adaptation programs,” said Gelwynn Jusuf, deputy secretary of the WOC.
“However,” he continued, “this is just an initial idea which would require the support of all delegations.”
The Adaptation Fund was established under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to help provide developing countries with the technologies needed to cope with the effects of climate change.
The Kyoto Protocol, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in developed countries to 5 percent below 1990 levels, is due to expire in 2012.
A climate change conference to be held in Denmark in December is expected to produce an international agreement on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions that would replace the Kyoto Protocol.
Gelwynn said that further discussions about what kinds of marine or coastal adaptation measures would be needed, or what kind of funding scheme would be required, had not been formally hammered out by delegates.
“We have not really come to terms on what kind of adaptation scheme would be suitable, but the issue will be open for discussion at the conference,” he said.
“The adaptation scheme is much more open for debate because developed countries are quite resistant to talk about mitigation if there is still no solid proof” of a connection between oceans and climate change.
Gelwynn said that Indonesia had recently been conducting climate change-related marine research to prepare the country for the Manado conference.
“We have been doing lots of research on oceans, which included many areas, like the impact on people’s livelihoods, rising sea levels, and fish populations,” he said.
“Our researchers will be presenting their studies along with other world ocean experts at the symposium” attached to the WOC.
The International Ocean Science Technology and Policy Symposium is expected to run in Manado from May 12-14.
So far, 860 delegates from 30 countries have confirmed their participation in the symposium.
Gelwynn said that climate change research on oceans and coasts had mainly focused on the ocean’s potential to emit carbon, rather than on the potential for oceanic carbon absorption.
“We all know that is still debatable, but the symposium would be a good opportunity to listen to what experts have to say,” he said.
