Archive for November, 2007
Appropriately enough, it is going to be hot at the climate change talks which begin on the Indonesian island of Bali on Monday.
Temperatures at this time of year range between 78 and 86ºF (26-30ºC).
The chief official of the UN climate change convention, Yvo de Boer, has already set the tone by telling the officials from over 170 countries who will be flying there - boosting the world’s greenhouse gas emissions as they do so - that they do not need to wear a jacket and tie, at least until their ministers fly in a week later.
He says this will avoid the need to turn the air conditioning up so high. I suspect it will make little difference.
The world may well wonder what this great junket in Nusa Dua, one of the world’s top holiday resorts, at the height of the holiday season, can actually achieve. It hardly instils confidence to be told that most important business is expected to be conducted at cocktail parties.
As a veteran observer of the enormously slow way the world has confronted the climate issue from Rio, through Berlin, Kyoto, the Hague and now on the road to Bali - without any apparent change in the relentless rise in the world’s greenhouse gas emissions - I can confidently predict that what Bali will NOT produce is a clear successor to the Kyoto treaty, which expires in 2012.
As a senior British official was at pains to point out this week, the media has been rather too successful in raising expectations. The reality is that the best that can be hoped for from Bali is drawing a roadmap towards a global regime for after 2013 that might be agreed in Copenhagen next year - crucially, after the next United States presidential elections.
President Bush’s refusal to ratify the Kyoto treaty remains the blockage to China and India signing up for legally binding emission reductions after 2012. All his potential successors want to do more, but that is unlikely to mean immediately ratifying Kyoto - because US emissions are wildly above the reductions promised in 1997.
Meanwhile, Bali will be a feast of process without finality. With luck, and no filibustering, it will bind together all the potential elements of a post-2012 agreement, including a never-before-achieved plan for avoiding the destruction of the rainforests, which could be tied up with ribbon in Copenhagen.
For some, this will be like watching paint dry. For others, it will be rich with significance and drama, for what is decided in Bali almost certainly will frame the way all industries and all households have to behave decades hence, as far as their use of fossil fuels is concerned.
Will we have scenes of high tension like in Berlin in 1995 when the chairman only just managed to get his gavel down on the consensus before the Saudi delegates could get their objections in ? Will we have 72 hours of sleeping on tables while talks go over deadline as we did in Kyoto?
Will we see a bitter bust-up like the one between John Prescott, then deputy prime minister, and Dominique Voynet, the hapless green French environment minister, whose cheese-paring objections in The Hague led to Prescott walking out saying he was “gutted” and which meant the United States could not ratify Kyoto before the election that sent George Bush to the White House on the basis of a few hanging chads?
We will not know until the protagonists arrive.
One of those, and the only other head of state attending besides the Indonesian president, will be Kevin Rudd, the new prime minister of Australia, a former diplomat, who has said he will ratify the Kyoto treaty, thereby removing the United States’s last ally in refusing to do so among developed countries.
As with our own Confederation of British Industry going “green” this week, the old order is slowly changing. What the new one will look like we can only guess.
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth
November 30th, 2007
Denpasar 29 November (AKI) – As Bali gears up for the UN Conference on Climate Change opening there on Monday, a cycling team arrives on the island Saturday, after 20 days on the road promoting climate solutions.
The cycling tour, called ‘Bicycle for Earth Goes to Bali’ has been held to promote biking as an alternative means of transport that does not add to climate change.
Along the 1447 kilometer long route from Jakarta to Bali, events have been held to inform the public about climate change and promote alternative solutions, and the team has attended political debates and other public events.
The event involved 15 main participants cycling the whole route from the capital city to the resort island, as well as 35 additional members from the cities the tour has passed through.
As the cyclists set out from Jakarta’s National Monument Square on 11 November, they were joined by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono cycling in tandem with his wife, First Lady Ani Yudhoyono.
The main team will have cycled a distance of 1,447 kilometers, during which it passed through 44 cities and stopped in 16. All the participants had passed a selection test proving that they were able to last the long journey.
From Jakarta, the cyclists passed through the cities of Karawang, Pamanukan, Cirebon, Tegal-Pekalongan, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Solo, Madiun, kertosono, Surabaya, Probolinggo, Situbondo, Banyuwangi, before arriving in Bali where the tour’s final leg included Tabanan, Denpasar and Nusa Dua.
Delegates from about 190 nations will meet in Bali, from Dec. 3-14 to launch negotiations on a new UN pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol after 2012.
Kyoto pledged to reduce greenhouse gases emitted by developed countries to at least 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-12. A total of 174 nations have ratified the pact.
The United States, the world’s biggest source of emissions, has not ratified the pact, which excludes emissions from developing countries, including China, a major polluter.
Koyoto covers 61.6 percent of developed nations’ total emissions.
Source: http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI
November 30th, 2007
Art and fashion came together for this year’s 07 Bali Fashion Week, which closed Saturday night with a gala event at Centro, Discovery shopping mall, Kuta, followed Sunday by the hugely successful “fashionONthestreet”.
Event organizer Mardiana Ika said the three-day event, which ran from Nov. 22-24, had been “highly successful, beyond our expectations”, with a 50 percent jump in participants from less than 100 in past years to 150 in 2007.
“The figures are not yet in, but from the success of participants orders (stock) and the valuable contacts made, it appears that Bali Fashion Week has been a great success,” Ika said.
Along with trade shows, seminars and nightly fashion parades, Bali Fashion Week also staged an exhibition of textiles, machinery, accessories and apparel that attracted around 3,000 viewers.
Sunday’s FashionONthestreet also attracted hundreds of spectators as weird and wonderful fashionistas wound their way from Discovery Plaza to the Hard Rock Caf‚ on Kuta Beach Road.
The Jember Fashion Carnival stole the FashiONthestreet show with beautifully constructed costumes; some like characters out of a Mad Max film, others from classic Chinese opera with a space odyssey twist.
“FashionONthestreet is the Bali for Bali event during Bali Fashion Week. It’s an opportunity for schools and other groups to take part,” Ika said.
– Trisha Sertori
Source: The Jakarta Post
November 29th, 2007
With significant numbers of Australians returning to Bali, Accor’s Bali hotels have launched a programme to assist Bali’s underprivileged children in a most practical way.
Bali, Indonesia (PRWEB) November 27, 2007 — With significant numbers of Australians returning to Bali, Accor’s Bali hotels have launched a programme to assist Bali’s underprivileged children in a most practical way.
Spearheaded by Accor’s Regional Manager in Bali, Michel Vivier - and co-ordinated by the General Managers at each hotel - the campaign will encourage visitors to Bali to make small donations of clean, good quality clothes as well as toys, school materials, art materials and non-perishable foodstuffs for children aged 3-18, which will then be distributed to orphanages and needy children.
“The thought behind the campaign is for tourists to bring full suitcases of surplus gifts, unload them and either stock up with shopping in Bali - which the island is famous for” said Michel Vivier. “It really has a double benefit because the donations will be greatly welcomed and purchasing goods at local stores, will help revive the local economy”.
“We recently had an Australian media group here, who all brought gifts and goods for the kids at the SLB D. YPAC orphanage and school for physically and mentally disabled children - and Accor donated boxes of much needed sheets, pillows, towels, rice and noodles - so it was over 30 boxes of goods delivered in front of their eyes. The kids did a song and dance routine as a thank you…and the project concept was born”, Michel added.
The donated goods can be left at Novotel Tanjung Benoa Resort, the Novotel Nusa Dua Hotel and Residences, Mercure Resort Sanur, Mercure Hotel Kuta and the All Seasons Legian Resort.
The latest Bali initiative is part of a wider Indonesian programme designed to assist local communities, says Accor’s President Director for Indonesia, Gerard Guillouet: “Accor in Jakarta runs “A Tree for A Child” project that is sponsoring education and health care for 100 children and pays for some education, whilst rewarding parents for allowing their children to finish their education. The programme has also purchased land and planted trees for future income for the school. Our work in Bali compliments our wider corporate social responsibility programs.”
One of the journalists has also collected more than 100kg of books, stationery and toys from Perth - to be sent up by Garuda Indonesia to Bali in the next few weeks.
Source: http://www.prweb.com/
November 28th, 2007
Kuta, Indonesia - Bali is bustling. Thousands of Indonesians and foreign tourists press through Poppies Lane 1 and 2, while Legian Street is clogged with sputtering motorcycles and automobiles. This is Kuta, the island’s main resort. Either you love the chaos or you hate it. When the band in the Espresso Bar begins to play “Welcome to My Paradise,” the crowd can contain itself no longer. Holidaymakers and locals dance with wild abandon. Giuseppe from Sicily is among them, and Antonia from Britain, and Ashley from Sydney.
The three are going to bed earlier tonight, though, because they have booked an outing for the next day to Nusa Lembongan, a small island near Bali. In the morning, as the catamaran approaches Nusa Lembongan after an hour-and-a-half’s journey, it is immediately clear that its inhabitants do not give a hoot for hubbub and discos. A white beach awaits the visitors, colourful fishing boats rock in the wind, and the only sound is the lapping of the waves. Nusa Lembongan lies in the Badung Strait about 12 nautical miles from Bali, and is near the islands of Nusa Penida and Nusa Ceningan. Just 2.5 kilometres wide and 4 kilometres long, it is situated directly on Wallace’s Line, which marks the boundary between the Oriental and Australian zoogeographic regions. The island not only offers splendid snorkelling and diving areas, spotless beaches, and pristine, turquoise-coloured water, but also marvellous views of Gunung Agung, Bali’s highest and most sacred mountain. Most visitors take a day trip to Nusa Lembongan. Their first destination is the mangrove forests, where they glide by boat through dense jungle. It is quiet, hot and humid. The main attraction follows: algae farming, which is the island’s chief source of income. Standing knee-deep in water, local boys set out algae shoots. The crop is harvested after a month and sun-dried on mats before going to Bali for further processing. Snorkelling is another highlight of the trip. Visitors can explore the underwater world of Nusa Lembongan from an offshore platform. Small, colourful coral reefs and schools of tropical fish await snorkellers. There are also five good surfing areas on the northwest coast, with names like “Shipwreck” and “Lacerations.”In the afternoon, when the catamaran sets off again for Benoa on Bali, some of those on board envy the holidaymakers who are staying on Nusa Lembongan for several days. So secluded is the island that the effects of the terrorist bombings that shook Bali in 2002 and 2005 are hardly felt. That cannot be said of Bali itself. There the tourism industry is recovering slowly from the attacks, which unnerved even confirmed Indonesia lovers around the world. Nevertheless, there is no sign of fear among the holidaymakers that have decided to travel to the Lesser Sunda Islands. Only a few posh restaurants search entering guests with metal detectors. “Everybody’s checked at the large hotels, too, and cars are inspected for bombs,” said Kim, a taxi driver from Sanur. Visiting the memorial to the 202 victims of the bomb attack at the Sari Club disco is a must for Bali tourists. The names of all who died are engraved on a plaque in the middle of Legian Street. To the left is a lawn - there Bali lovers from all over the world used to dance the night away.
Source: www.my-indonesia.info
November 27th, 2007
When Sydney designer Kerry Grima first moved to Bali 19 years ago, fashion was defined by the cheap rip-offs, sarongs and Bintang Beer t-shirts favoured by budget travellers who kicked off mass tourism to the Indonesian island.
Today, t-shirts bearing vulgar slogans such as Give Me Head Til I’m Dead still sell for as little as 20,000 rupiah (A$2.40) at Kuta’s dusty stalls. But Bali’s reinvention as an upmarket destination is giving rise to a new brand of high-street chic.
Just a few kilometres north of Kuta, trendy Seminyak’s air-conditioned, fixed-price boutiques act as showrooms for designers like Grima, who take part in international catwalk parades in Hong Kong and London, and export to high-end boutiques in New York, Paris, Sydney and St Tropez.
In the world’s top cities, the designers’ pieces sell alongside top global labels for thousands of dollars. And now in Bali, prices are reaching new, and previously unthinkable, heights.
Party frocks sell for several million rupiah while handbags from accessories designer Sabbatha go for up to 15 million rupiah ($A1,825).
Bali fashion has reached new heights on every level: quality, technique, availability of colours and fabrics, Grima says.
It’s been a rags-to-riches journey for the former fashion teacher, who launched his signature label on the resort island seven years ago.
He says he nearly went bust after an American associated copied his designs and snared his main buyers.
But Grima bounced back and now has four stores in Bali, supplies exclusive boutiques in Melbourne, Sydney, the US, Europe and Saudi Arabia. And he’s just signed his first deal with a major buyer, UK department store chain Harrods, where he says a hand-embroidered silk shawl will sell for more than STG1,000 ($A2,370).
Grima’s success story is echoed by dozens of other Bali-based designers, both international and domestic, who are unveiling collections this week at Indonesia’s only major catwalk show, Bali Fashion Week, now in its seventh year.
Australian-Brazilian designer Made de Coney has become one of the island’s hottest names since launching her Lily Jean label three years ago.
She now has her own factory, four stores in Seminyak, and accounts with boutiques in Australasia and Europe.
The 28-year-old largely attributes the fashion scene’s transformation to a change in the mix of tourists coming to Bali.
“Before, people were mostly exporting because they were paranoid of being copied,” says de Coney, who was born on the island.
Source: http://www.smh.com.au/
November 26th, 2007
Jakarta, Nov 24, 2007 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) — IFCPF | charts | news | PowerRating — The government will open a stand called ‘Indonesia Pavilion’ to provide information on Indonesia for delegates and journalists during the United Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change (UNCCC) in Bali on December 3-14, 2007. “The government needs to set up an information center on Indonesia considering the big number of delegates and foreign journalists who will cover the international event,” Communications and Informatics Minister Muhammad Nuh said in Serang, Banten, on Saturday.
He said about 10,000 delegates and 2,500 foreign journalists were expected to attend the international conference on climate change.
“We need to be pro-active in providing information on Indonesia,” the minister said.
To be organized by the Ministry of Communications and Informatics and opened at the conference venue in Nusa Dua, Bali, the Indonesian Pavilion will provide information on developments in democratization, freedom of the press and Moderate Islam in Indonesia.
“We will show aspects of Indonesia’s journey to democracy, including the various events leading to the implementation of democratic elections from village to national level,” the minister said.
The pavilion would also show developments in press freedom in Indonesia, he said.
“The third thing the pavilion will show is moderate Islam. There is a trend of extremism, radicalism and so forth in the world which were linked to Islam. But when observing Islam in general in Indonesia, one will find that it is rather moderate,” the minister said.
Source: http://www.tradingmarkets.com/
November 26th, 2007
Alit Kertaraharja, The Jakarta Post, Singaraja
Balinese people’s awareness of the importance of protecting endangered animals is on the rise, as indicated by the release of newly hatched baby turtles into the sea by fishermen in Seririt, Buleleng, on Tuesday.
The fishermen set free 15 of 85 baby turtles, which belong to an endangered species protected under Law No. 5/1990 and a 1999 government regulation.
Local fishermen also released nine adult turtles into the sea earlier in the year. “This ceremony was the first to be conducted by the fishermen. But their awareness of the importance of protecting endangered animals has been improving since the release of the nine adult turtles earlier this year,” Sulanyah village head Gede Sutarma said during the release of the 15 baby turtles.
The turtle release was witnessed by Seririt district head IGN Wiarsana, the head of the Bali Natural Resources Office, Putu Citra S.A., and the founder of the Pemuteran turtle project, Christ Brown.
Sulanyah beach has long been known as a favorite site for turtles to lay eggs. Local people often find eggs scattered across the sand. Many of the eggs are eaten by dogs or simply collected by residents for consumption.
“Basically they didn’t know how to care for the eggs until they hatched, until now,” Sutarma said.
About two months ago, local people found an adult turtle that was ready to lay eggs. Unsure what to do, they contacted Brown, who has been developing the Pemuteran turtle project in Gerokgak district.
Following Brown’s suggestion, the local people collectively tended and protected the turtle until it finally laid 350 eggs.
On Nov. 17, 85 of the eggs hatched and 15 of them, which were strong enough to survive, were released into the sea.
The rest of them are being raised in the Pemuteran project’s nursery until they are of sufficient size to be released.
About 250 eggs are being kept on the nearby beach. “We are waiting to see whether they are going to hatch,” said Sutarma, who acted as the coordinator of the baby turtle release.
Bali has been in the spotlight over the last few years as it is considered to be a location where turtles are butchered for their meat. Protests have come from many parts of the world with urgent calls to the government to end the slaughter.
Their protest is understandable as the endangered turtles, which can be found in all oceans throughout the world, belong to the global community. The turtles frequently emigrate long distances in a relatively short period of time. They can travel 3,000 kilometers in 58 to 73 days, according to experts’ observation.
Turtles have various cycles to lay eggs from once in two years, to once in eight. Turtles that once laid eggs on Indonesian beaches can frequently be found around Hawaii.
While male turtles spend most of their time at sea, the female ones go to the beaches when they are about to lay eggs. On the sandy beaches, the female turtles lay eggs and bury them in a hole. Out of hundreds of eggs laid by a female turtle, only dozens reach the sea.
Source: The Jakarta Post
November 23rd, 2007
(my-indonesia) The Ministry of Environment, Republic of Indonesia will host The Conference of the Parties (COP) Thirteenth Session and Conference of the Parties as the meeting of the parties the Kyoto Protocol, Third Session (COP-13/MOP-3), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at Bali on 3-14 December 2007.
Tourism not only contributes to climate change but is affected by it as well. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Republic of Indonesia will actively involve on these events which focus on issues of global climate changes, as a consequence to these issues significance effect on Indonesia’s tourism, particularly on Indonesia inbound tourism market and the impact on various nature attraction in Indonesia.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism in coordination with UNWTO and Secretariat of UNFCCC to held side event “Conference on Climate Change and Tourism – Responding to Global Challenges” which will be held on:
Day/Date : Tuesday, December 11 2007
Time : 01.00 pm – 03.00 pm (GMT+8)
Venue : Grand Hyatt Hotel, Nusa Dua, Bali
Speakers : 1. Dr. Daniel Scott
2. Dr. Shardul Agrawala
3. Mr. Andrew Skeat
4. Mr. Peter de Jong
The seminar is a routine agenda from UNFCCC and has been published on UNFCCC website.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has arranged the following parallel events on the UNFCCC conferences:
a. Seminar on the Impact of Climate Change to Indonesia’s Tourism, hold on:
Day/Date : Monday, December 10, 2007
Time : 08.00 am – 05.00 pm (GMT+8)
Venue : Grand Bali Beach Hotel, Sanur Bali
Speakers : International:
1. Secretary General of UNWTO, Mr. Geofrey Lipman
2. Dr. Daniel Scott
3. Dr. Tery de Lacy
National:
1. Minister of Culture and Tourism, H.E. Ir. Jero Wacik, S.E.
2. Minister of Environment, H.E. Dr. Rachmat Witoelar
3. Indonesia Tourism Industry Representative
Participants : 1. Central and Provincial Government of Indonesia
2. Indonesia Tourism Associations/Industries
3. Tourism Education Institution
4. Press Media
b. Post Conference Tour, will be held at Samboja (East Kalimantan), Pulau Komodo, and Bali on 15 – 17 December 2007.
c. Exhibition, exhibit tourism products and facilities of Indonesia, will be held at Pulau Besar, Bali on 8 – 14 December 2007.
d. Function/Hospitality/Cultural Performance, will be held at Grand Bali Beach Hotel on 10 December 2007. Welcoming 500 speakers and delegates from UNWTO, government official, environmental expert, tourism associations/ industries, tourism education institutions.
e. Press Conference, will be held at Grand Bali Beach Hotel on December 10, 2007 following the grand opening of “Seminar on the Impact of Climate Change to Indonesia’s Tourism”.
f. Advance Seminar on Integrated Tourism Development, hold on:
Day/Date : Tuesday and Wednesday/ December 18–19, 2007
Place : Hotel Le Meridien, Jakarta
Participants : 1. Central and Provincial Government of Indonesia
2. Tourism Associations/Industries
3. Tourism Education Institution
4. Press Media
Speakers : 1. Minister of Culture and Tourism, H.E. Ir. Jero Wacik, SE
2. Minister of Home Affairs, H.E. Mr. Mardiyanto
3. The Industry and Environmental Expert
g. “A Thousand Trees Planting”, will be held at Bali on December 11, 2007 (tentative). This event will be commence by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and attended by government institution, tourism industry/association, tourism education institution, etc.
Source: http://my-indonesia.info/
November 23rd, 2007
By Sugita Katyal
JAKARTA, Nov 21 (Reuters) - For years, Indonesia has made money by chopping down its forests. Now it wants to earn billions by preserving what is left.
The huge archipelago, with about 10 percent of the world’s tropical rainforests, is pinning its hopes on next month’s U.N. climate talks in Bali.
The government is backing a scheme that aims to make emission cuts from forests eligible for carbon trading.
Experts estimate Indonesia could earn more than $13 billion by preserving its forests if the carbon trading plan gets support in Bali.
About 190 countries will gather on the Indonesian resort island to try to hammer out a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol, a global pact aimed at fighting global warming.
“Carbon will be the new valuta (currency),” Marcel Silvius, senior programme manager of Wetlands International, told Reuters.
“In the coming years we may see investments in millions, in the next decade it may be hundreds of millions.”
Indonesia’s forests are a massive natural store of carbon, but environmentalists say rampant cutting and burning of trees to feed the pulp, timber and palm oil sectors has made the country the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions.
Indonesia’s forests, a treasure trove of plant and animal species including the threatened orangutan, emit a staggering 2.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, according to a report sponsored by the World Bank and British development agency.
Deforestation is estimated to contribute 20 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions — more than all the emissions of the world’s cars, trucks, trains and airplanes combined.
Environmental groups say that protecting tropical forests is the most direct and fastest way to mitigate some of the impact of climate change.
“Trade in palm oil by some of the world’s food giants and commodity traders is helping to detonate a climate bomb in Indonesia’s rainforests and peatlands,” global environmental group Greenpeace said in a recent report titled “How the Palm Oil Industry is Cooking the Climate”.
TROPICAL RAINFORESTS
Indonesia is one of the few countries that still has swathes of tropical rainforests left.
Even though it has lost an estimated 70 percent of its original frontier forest, it still has a total forest area of more than 225 million acres (91 million hectares), with a host of exotic plants and animals waiting to be discovered.
The richest forests are found in Borneo — the world’s third-largest island shared among Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei — which is home to about 2,000 types of trees, more than 350 species of birds and 210 mammal species.
Many animals such as pygmy elephants, orangutans as well as the clouded leopard, the sun bear and the Bornean gibbon top the list of Borneo’s endangered species.
Charles Darwin described Borneo as “one great untidy luxuriant hothouse made by nature for herself”.
But environmentalists say the island is being stripped by illegal logging, slash-and-burn farming and creation of vast oil palm plantations.
Greenpeace estimates Indonesia had the world’s fastest rate of deforestation between 2000-2005, losing the equivalent of 300 soccer pitches every hour.
There is no clear estimate of Indonesia’s current deforestation rate, but figures range between 2.5 million and 3.5 million hectares a year.
‘HEADING FOR THE WATERFALL’
“We’re in a canoe heading for the waterfall,” Frances Seymour, director-general of the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), said.
“Current rates of deforestation, whether it is here in Indonesia or anywhere else in the world, are unsustainable and need to be slowed.”
During the Bali conference, participants will hear a report on Reduced Emissions from Deforestation (RED) — a new scheme that aims to make emission cuts from forest areas eligible for global carbon trading.
Conservation and research experts have said deforestation rates have dropped significantly after the Indonesian government’s recent moves to implement tough measures on illegal logging and a new law prohibiting the use of fire to clear land.
But Indonesia says it must be given incentives, including a payout of $5-$20 per hectare, to preserve its forests.
“We want an appreciation of the forest cover that we have, because in maintaining it, we want to lobby for a compensation for that,” Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar told Reuters in a recent interview.
“The world will benefit very much if the hundreds of millions of forests all over the world, not just Indonesia, will be restored. And for that the world will be happy to pay.”
He did not say how Indonesia, where corruption is rife and law enforcement is often lax, could ensure the full protection of its forests under such a scheme.
Jakarta has being trying to mobilise nations with most of the world’s tropical rainforests — Brazil, Cameroon, Congo, Costa Rica, Gabon, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea — ahead of the talks.
“Carbon is the big hope,” Ian Kosasih, director of the WWF’s forest programme in Jakarta, told Reuters, referring to carbon trading as the answer to saving Indonesia’s forests.
“Eighty percent of carbon emissions come from fossil fuels and 20 percent from land use. But in Indonesia, the figure is opposite, which relates to how important forests are to carbon emissions,” he said. (Additional reporting by Adhityani Arga; editing by Ed Davies and David Fogarty)
Source: http://www.reuters.com/
November 22nd, 2007
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