Indonesia secures climate supports through bilateral deals in Copenhagen

Erwida Maulia, The Jakarta Post 23 Dec 09;

The outcome of the Copenhagen climate change summit may be only “morally-binding”, but the Indonesian delegation hasn't come home empty-handed.

Rachmat Witoelar, alternate head of the Indonesian delegation to the summit, told a press conference here Wednesday that Indonesia had successfully secured support from a number of countries and international organizations to help it mitigate climate change.

Rachmat said the pledges of support were secured through bilateral meetings conducted on the sidelines of the summit in Copenhagen.

“[The pledges of support] are very significant; the funds are huge,” the former environment minister said, though stopped short at specifying the figure.

Norway, the US and Britain, for example, have stated their willingness to provide financial support for efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation.

Germany, meanwhile, has agreed to help Indonesia preserve its forests with technical assistance, and New Zealand will develop global partnership in climate change research in the field of agriculture.

Other countries that have inked deals with Indonesia in terms of climate change mitigation cooperation are Australia, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Italy.

Two international organizations following suit are the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

The UNEP has agreed to develop its partnership with Indonesia on oceanic issues (blue carbon) and Technology Need Assessments follow-up, while the WMO for the preparations of an intergovernmental meeting in mid January to form the so-called High Level Task Force Team, which will formulate work concept for the Global Framework for Climate Services.

“Prof. Emil Salim has been proposed to be a member of the team,” Rachmat said, referring to another former environment minister.

Rachmat further explained, although the only outcome of the Copenhagen climate summit, which is a document called the “Copenhagen Accord”, was only “morally-binding”, not legally-binding, Indonesia is quite satisfied with the substance.

Climate Conference a Winner for Indonesia: Official
Fidelis E Satriastanti & Ulma Haryanto, Jakarta Globe 23 Dec 09;

While last week’s Copenhagen climate talks may have been considered as a lost opportunity to reach a binding agreement to slow down global warming, Indonesia stands to gain more than it bargained for, Rachmat Witoelar, executive chair of the National Council on Climate Change, said on Wednesday.

“[The conference] was not a failure and Indonesia was satisfied with the accord because it reflected our five major demands, as delivered officially by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono,” Rachmat said. He was referring to the president’s speech at the convention in which he demanded a strong commitment to reduce emissions, significant funding from developed countries and the continuation of the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) scheme.

Rachmat said there was still time for the accord to be transformed into a legally binding agreement at next year’s climate talks, which are expected to be held in Mexico.

“The agreement, however, is morally binding and Indonesia still has the chance to play a more significant role with our middle-ground solutions,” he said.

Around 190 countries gathered in Copenhagen from Dec. 7 to 18 to engage in crucial climate talks that were supposed reach a new emissions reduction agreement from developed countries to replace cuts agreed to in the Kyoto Protocol, which is due to expire in 2012.

However, the meeting was deemed a failure by environmentalists because its outcome, the Copenhagen Accord, was not a binding document ratified by all parties. The 12-paragraph document, instead, only tells world leaders to “take note” that the world’s temperature should be kept from rising two degrees Celsius, to commit to funding vulnerable countries — up to $30 billion from 2010 to 2012 and up to $100 billion a year by 2020 — and to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, known as REDD-Plus.

Rachmat said Indonesia was fortunate to have been able to hold several bilateral meetings with developed countries, including Norway, Britain, the United States, Germany, Australia, the Netherlands and Italy.

Norway committed to interim funding for REDD, which would be implemented as soon as possible. Britain and the United States also pledged funding to assist Indonesia in reducing emissions from the forestry sector.

The United States has said it would mobilize $3.5 billion for 2010 and 2011, which would be disbursed to three forested countries, representing three continents. Britain has raised $25 billion in funding from developed nations to reduce deforestation by 25 percent by 2015.

Raja Siregar, of Oxfam GB, said it looked like Indonesia would not get much in adaptation funding, but could receive funding for mitigation in the forestry sector.

“However, because it was not a legally binding [agreement], then it will be different from the previous assumption that we would get funding just by keeping our forests intact in order not to emit more carbon,” Raja said. “It seems now that we will have to first compete to get mitigation funding and then make a commitment on how much forest we can preserve using that funding.”

Raja said Indonesia had made a political pledge to reduce its emissions by 26 percent, most of which would come from the forestry sector. “At the moment, however, it is not clear how much funding we will get,” Raja said.

“[The funding] could be enough or not. REDD, as a [carbon trading] market, is also based on getting incentive [funding] to match the [cost] of preserving forests. But now those conditions don’t apply,” he said, adding that the funding was still well short of Oxfam’s prediction of $50 billion to $70 billion per year for adaptation alone.

“Competition between vulnerable countries to get a share of the funding will be strong,” he added.

A much stronger reaction to Yudhoyono’s Copenhagen speech came from Greenomics Indonesia, which said it was in stark contrast to the country’s forestry land use plans.

“Some 18 million hectares of forests have been earmarked for [commercial] use,” said Elfian Effendi, the executive director of Greenomics Indonesia.

“If the plan [to convert these areas] goes ahead, then the 26 percent emission reductions promise is just rhetoric … because one of the biggest emissions culprits is converting forest into non-forest areas,” Elfian said.

Rachmat, however, said the “One Man One Tree” national replanting program could be beneficial if the government could inspire enough people to get behind the project.

“[The government] plans to plant four billion trees over five years,” Rachmat said. “There were discussions about disbursing $100 billion for this effort. But this was only going to happen if there was a binding agreement in Copenhagen. When that’s affirmed, the funds will be disbursed.”