Spell Out Indonesia's Carbon-Cutting Plan, SBY Told

Author: JakartaGlobe

Environmental groups are calling on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to explain precisely how the government will reduce carbon emissions in the forestry sector after he announced targeted cuts of up to 26 percent by 2020. This plan announced at the Group of 20 summit on Friday in the US city of Pittsburgh.

He called for international support to help Indonesia reduce emissions by even more, as much as 41 percent from current levels. He also said the target was achievable because most of the country’s emissions come from forest-related activity, such as forest fires and deforestation.

“We are also looking into the distinct possibility of committing a billion tons of CO 2 reduction by 2050,” he said. “We will change the status of our forests from that of a net emitter sector to a net [carbon] sink sector by 2030.”

At a G-8 Summit last year in Hokkaido, Japan, Yudhoyono committed to reducing carbon emissions from deforestation by 50 percent this year, 75 percent by 2012 and 95 percent by 2025.

But Joko Arief, a forest campaigner for Greenpeace Indonesia, said the government would not receive any international support without providing detailed plans describing exactly how it would reduce emissions. These kinds of commitments should be read completely in the thejakartaglobe.com

Was Edited and Uploaded: 29-09-2009