Saturday, June 12, 2010

Moratorium on Deforestration

Last month President Susilo Bambang Yudoyono (SBY) announced a two-year moratorium on Deforestation starting 2011 in exchange for a US$ 1 Billion aid from Norway.

Unfortunately, no one knows how will the moratorium be enforced considering that illegal logging is rampant and official figures about deforestation is doubtful.

Please find below an article about this that I have quoted from Kompas.

SBY: Indonesia Has 'Trust Deficit'
Jumat, 11 Juni 2010 | 08:18 WIB
 
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Indonesian 
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday acknowledged his country lacked credibility, as it seeks billions of dollars in foreign aid to battle climate change. 
He said Indonesia suffered a “trust deficit“ in the international community that was hampering its ability to win backing for initiatives such as a moratorium on  deforestation and cuts to greenhouse gas emissions.                           

“This is the reason for reform. We can turn the trust deficit into a trust surplus. Let's be sure that the institutions in this country are credible,“ he said in his opening remarks to a weekly cabinet meeting.

Indonesia is one of the top emitters of climate-warming gases blamed for rising global temperatures, largely through deforestation due to illegal logging and clearing for palm oil plantations.

Yudhoyono shocked environmentalists and palm planters alike last month when he announced a two-year moratorium on deforestation from 2011 in exchange for $1 billion in aid from Norway. But no one knows how the moratorium will be enforced in a country where experts say illegal logging is rampant and the government's figures about deforestation rates and forest cover are seen as wildly inaccurate.

“All institutions in this country must be credible so that there are no obstacles when we seek cooperation with friendly countries and the international community,“ Yudhoyono said, referring to the pact with Norway.

I ask (ministers) not to be discouraged, not to be angry, that frankly the international community does not fully trust the institutions in many developing countries including ours.“ 

Norway will offer aid from 2014 but only as long as Indonesia has made verifiable progress in halting deforestation. The verifiability of such initiatives is crucial to broader U.N.-backed efforts to link developed-world climate change funds to forest conservation in developing countries like Indonesia.

“If there is no reduced deforestation, we will not pay. If there is reduced deforestation, we will pay,“ Norwegian Prime Minister Stoltenberg told a press conference in Oslo as the moratorium was announced last month.

The U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates deforestation is responsible for 17% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Yes Harry, the word is credibility!

If Indonesia has credible polices and acts credibly, other nations will help.


peter

Komunitas Salesman said...

Mantap dech kalau begitu

Unknown said...

@Peter,
Absolutely, and the Prez already admit it, now it's time for him to walk the talk so that others will follow.

@Komunitas Salesman,
Janjinya memang sudah mantap semoga realisasinya demikian.