Indonesia Wants Incentives To Halt Deforestation.
Indonesia is mobilizing a group of eight nations ahead of upcoming climate talks to get rich countries to pay the worlds tropical nations not to chop down rainforests, its Forestry Minister Malam Sambat Kaban said Wednesday.
Indonesia wants to gain bargaining power for direct assistance by teaming up with Brazil, Cameroon, Congo, Costa Rica, Gabon, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea, which together account for the lions share of the worlds tropical rainforests.
– What the F8 (Forest Eight) hopes and wishes for is an incentive from developed countries, an appreciation of each ones efforts to avoid deforestation, Malam Sambat Kaban said during a visit to Beijing on Wednesday.
– What the F8 wishes is there must be an understanding how the F8 countries can increase community welfare concerning the forests, with clear understanding, with clear mechanisms, he said.
– Because so far we do not have a clear protocol for how we proceed with CDM, he noted referring to the Clean Development Mechanism which allows polluters in rich countries to meet domestic greenhouse gas quotas by paying for emission-cutting programs in developing countries.
The Jakarta Post reports that “Indonesia says it will form a coalition with 10 other developing countries to press wealthy nations to pour money into offsetting the impacts of global warming.
The 10 countries are Brazil, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Columbia, DR Congo, Gabon, Malaysia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea and Peru.
State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar said the coalition would be officially launched on September 24, during the UN General Assembly in New York.
– The meeting of the coalitions member countries will be led by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. A declaration on sustainable forest management is expected to be released after the meeting, Rachmat said Tuesday after closing a two-day workshop in Jakarta on the impacts of climate change.
According to the minister, the coalition will promote the concept of “avoided deforestation”.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
