Indonesian government in the dark about source of Copenhagen funds

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post 3 Feb 10;

The government said it remained in the dark over how to apply for climate change funds that were promised by rich nations at the recent Copenhagen summit.

No clear mechanism to establish how such funds will be disbursed has been established following the completion of the summit in December 2009.

Experts warned that unanswered questions about the funding could breed mistrust among countries tackling climate change.

“We have sent a letter to the UN asking for an explanation on the mechanisms to apply for the climate change funding,” the Indonesian delegate to the climate talks, Wandojo Siswanto, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

A non-binding Copenhagen accord stipulates that rich nations will provide US$30 billion between 2010 and 2012 to developing nations to mitigate climate change.

Rich nations also promised to scale up climate funding to developing countries to $100 billion
by 2020.

“But we still have no idea on where the funds will come from and what countries are eligible for the funding,” said Wandojo.

He said the funds were crucial for helping Indonesia prepare pilot projects for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) schemes.

The accord did not specify the countries that would be eligible for the fund, but it promised to give financial aid to forestry nations to cut emissions caused by deforestation and forest degradation.

Indonesia, the world’s third-largest forest nation with 120 million hectares of rainforests, argued the country was eligible for the climate funding on account of its huge forest area.

The Copenhagen accord set a deadline for the parties to submit their official reports on emission-reduction targets for both rich and developing countries.

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (Unfccc) reported that only 55 countries out of 194 parties met the deadline.

Indonesia submitted its report claiming it would cut emissions by 26 percent.

“The question is, are countries that did not sign the accord also eligible for the climate fund?

“If that is the case, there is no extra incentive to join the Copenhagen accord,” he said.

Indonesia will spend an estimated Rp 83 trillion to cut 767 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.

A study by the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)
said the climate fund promised by rich nations was uncertain as several unanswered questions
remained.

It said several questions needed to be answered, such as the source and nature of the funds and the way it would be distributed.

“It is far from clear where the funding will come from, if it is genuinely new and additional, how will it be allocated and channeled?” Saleemul Hug, a senior fellow to the IIED’s climate change group, said in a statement made available to the Post.

The Copenhagen accord was brokered by the US after the collapse of talks on legally binding emissions targets in December.