Indonesia looks to build trust in climate deal

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post 24 Feb 10;

Indonesia has proposed informal climate talks ahead of this year’s Mexico conference to restore the already fading trust among rich and developing nations in order to reach a binding treaty on emission cuts.

The first meeting will be held in Bali on Friday on the sidelines of a ministerial forum attended by more than 100 ministers.

“The key now is to restore the fading trust among delegates from rich and developing countries. Otherwise, a deadlock remains a very possible outcome in Mexico,” the executive director of the National Council on Climate Change (DNPI), Rachmat Witoelar, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Indonesia, Rachmat said, proposed to the UN to host an informal meeting to resolve pending issues on a long-term agreement on emission cuts before the Mexico summit in December. The UN has given its approval.

After the Bali meeting, climate talks delegates will be invited to meet in April in Bonn and hold another meeting in September.

“Relying only on official UN schedules will not be enough to resolve the pending issues, mainly emission cut targets,” he said.

The UN will hold its official conferences in Bonn in June and in Mexico in October.

The summit, which will decide on whether to agree on a new binding treaty on emission cuts, will be held in December in Mexico.

Many remained pessimistic that the binding protocol on emission cuts can be reached in Mexico after failure in Copenhagen, despite the presence of more than 100 heads of state at the negotiations.

The executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) unexpectedly announced he would be stepping down in July, making negotiations more difficult in Mexico.

Rachmat said developing and poor countries had so far blamed rich nations for being arrogant in negotiations, including in Copenhagen last year.

“The rich nations, on the other hand, underestimate developing countries. There must be a way out to break this distrust as soon as possible,” he said.

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa is scheduled to be the main speaker on informal consultation on climate change on Friday.

The meeting, held in Nusa Dua, Bali could be reminiscent of the UN’s success in producing the Bali road map in 2007.

The Bali road map requires countries to agree on a new binding treaty in 2009. In that conference, delegates gave a standing ovation after US negotiators expressed their readiness to join the Bali road map.

Director of the campaign department of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), Teguh Surya, hailed the Indonesian government’s initiative to rebuild trust among climate talk delegates.

“The idea is good as long as Indonesia can ensure countries return to two-track negotiations under the UNFCCC’s Ad Hoc Working Groups,” he said.