Antara 24 Feb 10;
Nusa Dua (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono outlined five strategies to save the environment when officially opening the 11th Special Session of the UNEP Governing Council /Global Ministerial Environment Forum, here on Wednesday.
The first strategy is to change the pattern of production and consumption in order to save the Earth which is seriously damaged, for the sake of the present and future generations.
Other strategies are to lower biodiversity loss by implementing real actions; to promote new orientation of development and economic paradigm which are pro-poor, pro-job, and pro-growth; to finalize agreements for sustainable development; and to finalize negotiations on climate change to ensure the success of the planned Mexico Climate Change Summit , the head of state said.
On the occasion, United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Executive Director Achim Steiner presented a UNEP Award of Leadership to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for promoting and conserving marine ecosystem management.
President Yudhoyono said he accepted the award as a recognition to the work of the whole Indonesian people in managing the marine ecosystem.
He also reaffirmed Indonesia`s commitment to reducing the level of deforestation and land degradation and to lowering the level of carbon emissions.
The world environmental minister meeting taking place under the auspices of UNEP at the Bali International Convention Center from
February 24 to 26, is being participated in by around 1,000 delegates from 130 countries.The meeting`s slogan is "One Planet: Our Responsibility.(*)
Yudhoyono receives UNEP Award for coral initiative
Erwida Maulia, The Jakarta Post 24 Feb 10;
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been honored with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Award for Leadership in Promoting Ocean and Marine Conservation and Management.
The award was presented Wednesday by UNEP executive director Achiem Steiner during the opening of UNEP's 11th Special Session of the Governing Council in Nusa Dua, Bali, which is the first ministerial-level meeting organized by the UN body since the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.
The President was honored for "personally spearheading" the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI), the high-level political commitment among the governments of several countries around the Coral Triangle area, to safeguard the region's marine and coastal biological resources for the sustainable growth and prosperity of current and future generations.
The Coral Triangle covers the areas of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, East Timor and Papua New Guinea. It lies across mere 1 percent of the earth’s surface, but is said to contain a third of the world's coral and three-quarters of its coral reef species.
In August 2007, Yudhoyono wrote to seven other leaders in the area proposing a new CTI, which was then agreed upon and signed in Manado shortly after the World Ocean Conference in May 2009.
"The CTI represents a key step in protecting one of the most important marine ecosystems on the planet," UNEP director of information Satinder Bindra said before presenting the award to the Indonesian President.
"It's a commendable example of regional cooperation and it's an initiative which has been personally spearheaded by His Excellency President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono," he added.
In his speech after the award ceremony, Yudhoyono said the award belonged to all Indonesians, not just to him.
