Indonesia asks negotiators to respect accord

Wednesday, 7 April 2010

The Jakarta Post

Indonesian delegates have said they will ensure world negotiators respect principles of the Copenhagen Accord in the upcoming climate talks in Bonn, Germany, to avoid stagnant diplomacy in reaching a binding treaty on emission cuts.

Chief negotiator Rachmat Witoelar said the results of the Copenhagen Accord should be used as a stepping stone toward a binding treaty on emission-cut targets.

“For Indonesia, the Copenhagen Accord is one stepping stone to reach an agreement in Cancun, Mexico,” he said Tuesday.

“Climate talks cannot forget the results of the Copenhagen Accord. We can disagree with the process to make the accord but the results are crucial to address climate change.”

Twenty negotiators from Indonesia will leave for Bonn, Germany, on Wednesday to negotiate the emission-cut target.

Negotiators from 190 countries will gather in Bonn from April 9 to 11 to discuss organizational matters ahead of the climate summit in Cancun in December.

The accord was issued last year after participants at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen failed to reach a consensus on a legally binding treaty. More than 100 head of states were present at the largest climate talk last year.

The accord requested parties submit emission-cut targets and state if they associated with the accord.

As of April, 42 developed nations and 32 developing nations have submitted reduction targets to the UN, with 114 countries associating themselves with the accord.

A number of developing countries rejected the accord, causing growing distrust among negotiators from developed and developing countries. Those among countries that rejected it are Venezuela, Tuvalu and Kiribati. Indonesia was among the first to accept the accord.

Rachmat said that at least five points of the Copenhagen Accord, namely the recognition of reducing emissions using the deforestation and forest degradation scheme (REDD plus), was in line with Indonesia’s interests.

Under the accord, developed nations have pledged about US$30 billion from 2010 to 2012, with another $100 billion per year from 2020.

The accord also stipulates the establishment of the Copenhagen Green Climate Fund.

Indonesia has vowed to slash emissions by 26 percent by 2020 using its own budget and by 41 percent if developed nations provide financial assistance.

Rachmat said that Indonesia delegates would mandate the chair of working groups on climate talks to include an element of the Copenhagen Accord into negotiation text.

“We also hope the negotiation focuses on pending finance and mitigation issues” he said.

Experts have said that the legal status of the Copenhagen Accord would not change although most countries supported the accord.

Activists, including from the Indonesian Environmental Forum and Greenpeace Indonesia, have repeatedly criticized Indonesia’s negotiators over its poor preparation on the agenda being tabled at climate talks.

They called on the government to discuss the agenda with all stakeholders before talks began.

The activists also protested to Indonesian negotiators to focus on their positions as mediators in order to reach an agreement, rather than focus on their own agenda.

Executive secretary of the climate talks Yvo de Boer, who recently declared his resignation from the post, said that he did not expect a binding treaty until the end of 2011.