Indonesia minister sees consensus at climate talks
10 Oct 2007 13:45:46 GMT Source: Reuters
(Adds quotes, details, background) By Sugita Katyal JAKARTA, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Indonesia's environment minister said he believes the United States and Australia, which have not signed the Kyoto Protocol, will reach a consensus on a new climate deal at December's U.N. talks in Bali. The Bali meeting in December is meant to spell out a way to curb emissions after 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol expires, in an attempt to slow global warming and effects such as flooding, droughts, heatwaves and rising sea levels. Many people see the meeting of environment ministers as a last chance to launch talks on a new world agreement on measures to cut emissions of climate changing carbon gases. "I see a ray of hope that in Bali we can set the foundations," Rachmat Witoelar told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday, adding that he had recently held positive talks with representatives from the United States and Australia, which are non-signatories to the Kyoto Protocol. "Australia and the U.S., it seems they don't mean any harm. They just want to have some things re-arranged," he said, adding that the two countries were responsible for 40 percent of the emissions. Kyoto binds 36 rich nations to cap emissions of greenhouse gases until 2012 and a new global deal would seek to engage outsiders such as the United States and developing countries such as China, India and Brazil. U.S. President George W. Bush decided in 2001 against implementing the Kyoto Protocol in a break with most of his industrial allies except Australia. The United Nations wants a deal in place by the end of 2009 to give three years for ratification by national parliaments before the expiry of the Kyoto Protocol. During the Bali conference, participants from 189 countries 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. Earlier this week, Witoelar said Indonesia wants to be paid $5-$20 per hectare not to destroy its remaining forests, for the first time giving an actual figure that he wants the world's rich carbon emitters to pay. He did not give further details of the cash-for-forests proposal, or say how Indonesia, which already has difficulty with law enforcement due to corruption, would ensure that its forests were not destroyed under such a scheme. Witoelar also said Indonesia plans to push to make emission cuts from keeping forests intact eligible for carbon trading and also promote a special forestry fund for protecting the world's depleting rainforests during the Bali conference. "We want an appreciation of the forest cover that we have, because in maintaining it, we want to lobby for a compensation for that," Witoelar said. "The world will benefit very much if the hundreds of millions of forest all over the world, not just Indonesia, will be restored. And for that the world will be happy to pay." Kyoto focused on reducing emissions from industry and capturing greenhouse cases, but did not include a scheme to cut emissions from forestry or to protect existing forests, which could reduce global emissions by 20 percent. (Additional reporting by Adhityani Arga)
