Indonesia may delay implementation of Paris Climate Agreement

Antara 7 Dec 17;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia, along with other signatory countries, may delay the implementation of the Paris Agreement, because negotiation on the pact`s basic guidelines has not yet been completed, an official said here on Wednesday.

"Our target is to complete the basic regulation by 2018, but now (after the 23rd Conference of Parties in Bonn, Germany), there is no clear rule or guidance on the pact, which was initially planned to be implemented by 2020," the Environment and Forestry Ministry`s Climate Change Director General, Nur Masripatin, said in Jakarta on Wednesday.

In terms of curbing the greenhouse gas, for example, the pact`s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) only highlighted the general rules for the implementation but did not mention the clear number of emissions.

The standardization set by NDC only mentioned that the regulations issued by the signatory countries should be ambitious, clear, and transparent, she noted.

However, members of the agreement may translate the general rule with their own terms and conditions. Therefore, the NDC should mention all basic features and other details that have to be incorporated in the regulation.

The first NDC set by Indonesia has put some details on the preventive measures, steps on adaptation, international commitments, and the clear and transparent information, as well as the system on account of curbing the emission, Masripatin explained.

These kinds of features, she added, should be agreed by all members, in order to evaluate the carbon stock accurately by 2020, she emphasized.

Hence, the general rule on the pact`s implementation should be completed by all members during the next 24th COP in Poland in 2018.

The next COP also should discuss on "Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation/REDD+,? which has been rejected by most developed countries, she revealed.

"If the first session of the COP`s meeting (CMA-1) is adopted by Poland, our next move will be to conduct other negotiations on the details. Our concern now is that the basic guideline has not yet been completed. Therefore, the Paris Agreement would not be effective by 2020," she reiterated.

The member countries now are adopting the guidelines issued by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to measure the emission, she explained.

However, all members need to agree on the standard evaluation of the conversion, because some 170 of 196 signatory countries of the Paris Agreement have different NDC standards.

During the 23rd COP Fiji in Bonn, Germany, held from Nov 6 to 17, Masripatin remarked that most country members are grouped into several forums based on the countries` interests.

The Like-Minded Group of Countries (LMCs), which represents a coalition of more than 60 nations, is comprised of three different groups, namely Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America-Caribbean.

The group is backed by China, India, and Arab nations, which have planned to separate the mitigation efforts (on curbing emission) regulated in the NDC for the developed and developing countries.

As a result, now, the basic guideline on the Paris Agreement`s implementation is hard to be completed and agreed by all members.

Hence, controlling the earth`s temperature to below two degree Celsius by 2030 would remain a hard challenge for the signatory countries of the Paris Agreement.

Reported by Virna P Setyorini
(UU.KR-GNT/A/KR-BSR/A014)
Editor: Heru Purwanto