ALISTER DOYLE Reuters 24 Sep 15;
Indonesia promised on Thursday to curb its rising greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, but a lack of detail made it hard to judge the magnitude of Jakarta's plan or how much it would help a U.N. push to combat climate change.
Indonesia, among the world's top 10 emitters of greenhouse gases, called the plan a "fair share" for a developing nation.
"Indonesia is committed to reducing emissions by 29 percent compared to a business as usual scenario by 2030," the government said in a plan submitted to the United Nations on Thursday that builds on a Sept. 2 draft.
It gave few details of the current rate of growth of emissions in Southeast Asia's largest economy but said business as usual would lead to emissions of about 2.88 billion tonnes by 2030, sharply up from the last official estimate of 1.80 billion tonnes for 2005.
"It is disappointing that the Indonesian government did not provide enough detail to allow for a more full and accurate estimate of emissions its targets will avoid," said Nirarta Samadhi, head of the Indonesia office of the World Resources Institute (WRI) think-tank.
Still, he called the plan an encouraging step by Indonesia to address a complex global problem.
Many other developing nations, which do not regularly measure emissions, have also submitted plans similar to Indonesia's to slow emissions relative to economic growth.
Rich nations, which have been measuring their annual emissions since the 1990s and understand trends better, are setting absolute cuts. The European Union has urged all to spell out more details to make it easier to judge who is doing most, and least.
Indonesia called the curbs a fair share for the country as part of global action to be agreed at a Paris summit from Nov. 30-Dec. 11, meant to avert more heatwaves, floods, droughts and rising sea levels linked to rising emissions.
It said the reduction from business as usual could be increased to 41 percent by 2030 if Indonesia got sufficient new technologies and finance from other nations.
WRI estimates that Indonesia is the fifth biggest greenhouse gas emitter if forest losses are taken into account, behind China, the United States, India and Russia. Trees soak up carbon dioxide as they grow and releases it when they burn or rot.
Excluding land-use changes, Indonesia ranks eighth, it says.
(Reporting By Alister Doyle)
Indonesia pledges 29 per cent emissions cut by 2030
Indonesia, the world's fifth-biggest greenhouse gas emitter, has said that it will take measures to reduce deforestation, restore degraded forests and lift its share of renewable energy.
Channel NewsAsia 25 Sep 15;
JAKARTA: Indonesia has pledged to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 29 per cent by 2030 through stepping up protection of forests and boosting the renewable energy sector, but observers criticised the plan as lacking in detail.
Indonesia, one of the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitters, said it would reduce deforestation, restore degraded forests, and lift the share of renewable energy to almost a quarter of the national energy mix in a decade, according to the country's official UN filing.
The sprawling archipelago is home to vast tracts of tropical rain forest but much has been felled in recent years, to be sold as timber and to make way for palm oil and pulp plantations, greatly increasing the country's emissions.
The 29 per cent reduction by 2030 is relative to a business-as-usual scenario without climate action, according to the pledge filed on Thursday, the latest to be submitted ahead of UN talks on a climate rescue pact in December in Paris.
With international assistance, such as financing, the pledge raises the target to a 41 per cent cut by 2030. Previously in 2009, Indonesia had vowed to cut emissions by 26 per cent by 2020.
"Beyond 2020, Indonesia envisions an even bolder commitment to emission reductions," said the country's UN submission, known as an Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC).
However, think-tank the World Resources Institute (WRI) said the document lacked key information, such as an estimate of financial assistance needed to reach the 41 per cent target, and did not go into detail about how to tackle recurring forest fires that contribute greatly to Indonesia's emissions.
The pledge was released as Indonesian slash-and-burn agricultural fires send smog floating over Southeast Asia, with neighbouring Singapore on Friday closing all schools as air quality deteriorated to hazardous levels. The illegal fires, mostly set to clear land for plantations, are an annual occurrence and Jakarta has come under pressure to do more to stop them.
"The government has taken positive steps in the process of developing the INDC, but it can be further improved with more details to ensure the plan's effectiveness," said Nirarta Samadhi, head of the Indonesia office of WRI.
Indonesia is the world's fifth-biggest greenhouse gas emitter if forest loss is taken into account, according to the WRI. More than 70 governments have so far submitted their INDCs, which will form the backbone of a universal climate pact to be forged at a November 30-December 11 United Nations conference in the French capital.
The deal will seek to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels.
- AFP/yt
Indonesia lacks detailed emissions target
The Jakarta Post 26 Sep 15;
JAKARTA: Indonesia promised on Thursday to curb its rising greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, but a lack of detail made it hard to judge the magnitude of Jakarta’s plan or how much it would help a UN push to combat climate change.
Indonesia, among the world’s top 10 emitters of greenhouse gases, called the plan a “fair share” for a developing nation.
“Indonesia is committed to reducing emissions by 29 percent compared to a business-as-usual scenario by 2030,” the government said in a plan submitted to the UN on Thursday that builds on a Sept. 2 draft as quoted by Reuters.
It gave few details of the current rate of growth of emissions in Southeast Asia’s largest economy but said business-as-usual would lead to emissions of about 2.88 billion tons by 2030, sharply up from the last official estimate of 1.80 billion tons for 2005.
“It is disappointing that the Indonesian government did not provide enough detail to allow for a more full and accurate estimate of emissions its targets will avoid,” said Nirarta Samadhi, head of the Indonesia office of the World Resources Institute (WRI) think-tank.
Still, he called the plan an encouraging step by Indonesia to address a complex global problem.
Many other developing nations, which do not regularly measure emissions, have also submitted plans similar to Indonesia’s to slow emissions relative to economic growth.
Rich nations, which have been measuring their annual emissions since the 1990s and understand trends better, are setting absolute cuts. The European Union has urged all to spell out more details to make it easier to judge who is doing most, and least.
Indonesia called the curbs a fair share for the country as part of global action to be agreed at a Paris summit from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11, meant to avert more heatwaves, floods, droughts and rising sea levels linked to rising emissions.
It said the reduction from business-as-usual could be increased to 41 percent by 2030 if Indonesia got sufficient new technologies and finance from other nations.
