Indonesian government in the dark on how to cut emission

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post 25 Nov 09;

If Indonesia can reduce forest fires in peat lands by 75 percent, it would cut nine percent of its emissions.

The government remains unclear on how to meet President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s October declaration to voluntarily cut Indonesia’s carbon emissions by 26 percent by 2020 using the state budget.

The Forestry Ministry admitted it had not yet issued any data on emissions cuts targets from the forestry sector, believed to be the Indonesia’s largest emissions contributor.

“We are still discussing it,” Nur Masripatin, a senior ministry official dealing with negotiations on forestry emissions cuts, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

State Minister for the Environment Gusti Muhammad Hatta announced Monday the forestry sector’s emissions cuts were expected to contribute about 14 percent of the 26 percent target, while energy and waste management sectors could cut emissions by 6 percent each.

“I don’t know how such [large] emissions cuts by the forestry sector will be made,” Nur said.

Earlier, Hatta was confident Yu-dhoyono’s pledge of 26 percent emissions cuts could be met with cuts by only the forestry and energy sectors.

Hatta’s office then revised the plan by incorporating a slash in emissions from waste management.

Nur warned that calculating emissions cuts should be discussed carefully because they would require a huge budget to resolve the main drivers of deforestation: rampant illegal logging and forest fires.

“If there are no significant changes in budget allocation, we will not be able to cut forestry emissions.

We cannot seek foreign aid to fund emission cuts in this sector,” she said.

A document made available to the Post showed that by planting 33.2 million hectares of trees and undertaking REDD (reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation) programs, Indonesia could slash about 15 percent of its emissions.

The document says that if Indonesia can reduce forest fires in peat lands by 75 percent, it would cut nine percent of its emissions.

Yudhoyono made his pledge at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in October. He further committed to slash emissions by 41 percent if developed nations provided financial aid.

With the announcement, Indonesia — one of the countries most vulnerable to the impact of climate change — became the first developing nation to declare an emissions cuts target.

Negotiators from all over the world will gather in Copenhagen in December to discuss emissions cuts targets to mitigate the impacts of global warming.

The existing climate treaty, the Kyoto Protocol, binds only developed nations to cut emissions by 5 percent by 2012 from 1990 levels. The treaty expires in 2012.

The Environment Ministry released its emissions report Monday, which showed the country’s emissions stood at about 1.4 million tons in 2000, the forestry sector alone contributed up to one million tons of emissions.

Energy and waste management each contributed about 333.540 tons and 151.578 tons.

If Indonesia can reduce forest fires in peat lands by 75 percent, it would cut nine percent of its emissions.