No Indonesian Candidates Proposed to Lead UN Climate Body

Putri Prameshwari & Fidelis E Satriastanti, Jakarta Globe 31 Mar 10;

Environment Minister Gusti Mohammad Hatta said on Wednesday that the ministry would not float any candidates for the leadership of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change as the deadline for submitting candidates passed.

Yvo De Boer, executive secretary of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, announced his resignation in February, three months after the highly anticipated international climate change talks in Copenhagen ended with a nonbinding agreement considered a failure by environmentalists.

Although Indonesia never made an official announcement, three candidates were considered to be in the running for the post.

They are former Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda, Agus Purnomo, the head of the National Council on Climate Change and a special staff member to the president on climate issues, and Liana Bratasida, the environment minister’s assistant for global environmental affairs and international cooperation.

“We do not have any candidates for the UNFCCC,” said Gusti, adding that Liana had rejected the offer “because of her own reasons.”

Liana said she was grateful to have been offered the candidacy, but she was not interested in taking the job.

“I have submitted my refusal letter to the minister,” she said. The job “is not as easy as it seems so I think I will pass on that offer.” She also said that she was “no stranger to this kind of job and [the UN bodies’] way of working.”

At the Bonn climate talks last year, Liana was appointed to head the Subsidiary Body for Implementation, a technical body under the UNFCCC that focuses on emissions targets, financing, mitigation and technology transfer. She was also a former member of the Clean Development Mechanism’s executive board, which was tasked to determine whether carbon projects should be approved.

A source who did not wish to be identified told the Jakarta Globe that Indonesia had failed to submit names because no one met the UNFCCC requirements.

“They have requested that the applicant have experience in managing around $100 million in funds and 150 international staff members. Not one of the alleged candidates fit the criteria, so, that’s why we did not submit any names,” the source said.

Indonesia misses chance to run for UN top post

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post 1 Apr 10;

Indonesia’s hope to chair the UN climate body waned as it lacked an eligible candidate.

The UN requires executive secretary post candidates of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which needs filling after Yvo de Boer’s resignation, to show they have past experience in leading an institution with at least 150 international staff and a budget of at least US$100 million.

The government did not make an official statement on the competition Wednesday, the deadline for countries to submit their candidates.

“If we do not submit a name, this means we will not join the race,” National Council for Climate Change (DNPI) chairman Rachmat Witoelar told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Rachmat, former environment minister, declined to say that Indonesia did not join the race because Indonesia lacked an eligible candidate. Rachmat was one of the strong candidates from Indonesia partly due to his role in leading the UNFCCC’s Conference of Parties (COP) 13 in Bali in 2007.

A source, told the Post that Indonesia had no candidate who had experience with an 150-staff member institution. “The UNFCCC requires candidates have experience in dealing with this number, which hampers many candidates eligibility from developing nations,” the official, who requested anonymity, said.

The recruitment process for Indonesian candidates involved selection by Coordinating Public Welfare Minister Agung Laksono and the Foreign Ministry.

“As far as I know, we have not assessed candidates for the post,” Coordinating Public Welfare secretary Indroyono Susilo told the Post.

De Boer announced his resignation in February. He will leave the UN office in July, just months before negotiators from 190 countries will gather again to hammer out a long-delayed binding treaty on emission cut targets.

The secretariat of UNFCCC located in Bonn, Germany, currently employs 200 international staff. Among other issues, the talk aims to prepare official documents for discussion on the COP on climate change.

The new executive secretary chief will be appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in consultation with the COP.

As of March, Costa Rica, India and South Africa are among countries that have announced their
interest in racing the climate-change post.

Indian environment secretary Vijay Sharma and South African Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk first made the public announcement to race the post. Costa Rica planned to nominate its lead climate negotiator Christiana Figueres, who has had a long career in the UNFCCC.