Norway's Climate and Forests Initiative, which has set aside billions of dollars for efforts to reduce deforestation, should work with the country's Ministry of Finance to divest the Government Pension Fund from companies that destroy forests, says the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), an environmental group.

EIA is making a push on the issue just four days after the pension fund announced it had sold all of its shares in Malaysian logging conglomerate Samling Global after an investigation found evidence of illegal logging in Sarawak, a Malaysian state of the island of Borneo. While the sale represented less than 1 percent of Samling's outstanding shares, the action sent a strong signal.

Now EIA is calling upon the Ministry of Finance to evaluate another $437 million in shareholdings in major forestry, agriculture, and related commodities companies that operate in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Malaysia.

"Many have been linked to deforestation and other severe environmental damage," read a statement from EIA. "Some have been accused of illegal logging and land clearance, rights and labor abuses, corruption, and significant tax fraud. All such activities would contravene the Ethical Guidelines of the Pension Fund if confirmed."

Among the questionable holdings cited by EIA:

Source: Mongabay

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In his Independence Day speech, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced the results of the latest population census, sparking concern as to how the country was handling the looming challenge of a population boom.

According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), Indonesia is now home to 237.6 million people, an increase of about 32.5 million since 2000. Within the next five years, Indonesia’s population will grow to 250 million, according to estimates.

In the context of climate change, this may well lead to a dramatic growth in consumption and other human-induced activities, which could significantly increase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as by-products of economic growth.

As we may learn, an increase in GHG emissions correlates with an increase in the concentration of GHG in the atmosphere, resulting in climate change and its associated impacts — which will eventually affect Indonesians.

Even without climate change, the exponential growth rate of the country’s population has contributed to continuous pressures on remaining natural resources and ecosystems.

Climate change may worsen existing environmental degradation resulting from illegal and destructive logging, forest conversion, overfishing and over exploitation of natural resources.

Because this massive archipelagic nation has adopted a decentralized system, local governments and people must shoulder the burden of this issue.

One of the country’s biggest challenges right now is to formulate climate policies and initiate programs that seriously reflect local aspirations and incorporate ongoing efforts at the local level.

A number of climate policies developed since 2007 mostly focus on strategic intervention to reduce GHG emissions by 26 percent by 2020 at the national level, or prioritize action in key development sectors.

This approach, however, leaves a substantial gap when it comes to action on the ground. Comparing polices at the national level, or in key development sectors, with intervention at a local level, has never been easy. Decentralization in Indonesia is a highly complex subject.

Many experts have praised Indonesia’s decentralization and transformation but concerns over the division of authorities and fiscal distribution remain.

For instance, policies formulated and actions taken by national government (in all sectors) often differ or clash with those taken at the provincial or district level.

This is also true in the case of climate change.

According to Dr. Meine van Noordwijk of the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), how reductions of GHG emissions are likely to be allocated over sectors and, more importantly, over parts of the country, has not been decided yet.

Provinces and districts in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua, for instance, are still drafting their low-carbon development plans.

In these drafts, provinces and districts have voiced their aspirations to address climate change and sustainability.

In a decentralized model, it is crucial that the already developed and currently formulated national and sectoral climate change policies take into account these sub-national or local policy aspirations.

If the figures from different layers of the government do not match, it will be a Herculean task for the country to commit to pledge to reduce GHG emissions.

Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, head of the Indonesian team negotiating the bilateral agreement with Norway to reduce carbon emissions, recently said the Indonesian government had acknowledged the need for a system with high integrity, which left no room for leakages, to implement REDD+ successfully.

He explained a high degree of integrity was fundamental since compensation for REDD+ implementation would depend on the credibility of this system.

Setting up positive incentives, including financial ones, is another way to encourage local governments and actors to be more involved in climate change mitigation.

This is important since benefits resulting from any climate change policies need to be felt and distributed in an equitable manner.

Moreover, these incentives need to be framed by rules that ensure benefits created flow to, and are retained by, local and indigenous people — as well as poor communities — who are among the most resource-dependent people and providers of important environmental services.

In the past, the position, rights and interests of local and indigenous people were often overlooked or marginalized when the government formulated environmental policies.

As a result, poverty and environmental degradation are still prevalent.

Including local and indigenous people is therefore key to instituting better climate governance.

The recipient of the 2009 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Elinor Ostrom, said social arrangements were crucial in determining the outcomes of policies, particularly when these were aimed at influencing human behavior interconnecting with economic matters.

In the Indonesian context, understanding the complexity of decentralization, taking into account aspirations of local governments and people, can be viewed as appropriate social arrangements.

This is not only likely to ensure successful outcomes from climate policies, but could also help minimize the cost of implementation of these policies, reduce social conflicts and provide social insurance in case of hazards.

Most importantly, this would strengthen the confidence and trust among all stakeholders and right holders — which is crucial for the nation itself. (By Fitrian Ardiansyah)

The writer is a PhD candidate at the Australian National University, a recipient of the Australian Leadership Award and Allison Sudradjat Award, as well as an advisor to WWF-Indonesia on climate and energy. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Source: The Jakarta Post

BirdLife’s efforts to save threatened rainforests around the globe have received a major boost following the support of HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco and Singapore Airlines at events held in Singapore today.

Royal support

Speaking to delegates from governments, the private sector and conservation organisations at an evening event hosted by the Nature Society (Singapore) (local BirdLife Partner), HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco stressed that: “… the work of BirdLife allows whole areas to be protected and preserved – unique areas of the globe whose importance is key both for our survival and for our knowledge of the world”.

HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco used the event to underline the importance of tropical forests, and announced his support to BirdLife's Forests of Hope programme. “The conservation and restoration ‘Forests of Hope’ projects co-ordinated by BirdLife and its Partners in tropical forests around the world … are now better known, and above all, let us hope, on the way to being saved”.

“I am particularly pleased that my Foundation - whose commitment to biodiversity and protection of the planet - is a faithful partner of BirdLife International, and has signed a framework partnership allowing our efforts to be united and our approaches to be shared on several projects throughout the world.”

Forests of Hope – a fresh approach to rainforest conservation

The BirdLife Global Partnership has been deeply engaged in forest conservation across the tropics for years, and is achieving significant successes on the ground. BirdLife’s ‘Forests of Hope’ programme is building on this wealth of experience, and expanding this work across the globe. 

It uses an innovative approach towards large-scale forest restoration and conservation which addresses biodiversity conservation, eco-services preservation, social development and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
 
Delegates at the event heard how Burung Indonesia (BirdLife Partner) and the RSPB (BirdLife Partner in the UK) and BirdLife International are conserving and restoring around 20% of Sumatra’s remaining lowland forest through the Harapan Rainforest Initiative.

Harapan success

Harapan Rainforest – the Indonesian word for ‘hope’ - is located on the island of Sumatra, the largest island in Indonesia. The dry lowland forest is home to over 290 species of birds, along with other charismatic and Globally Threatened animals like Asian wild dog, Malayan Tapir, Asian Elephant and a significant proportion of the world’s Sumatran Tiger.

The Harapan concession has been recently licensed to the BirdLife consortium by the Indonesian Government under a completely new regulation that allows forests to be set-aside and managed for their long-term conservation and restoration. Harapan is the world’s first forest restoration concession of this type, and the license has been granted for nearly 100 years. Real hope.

The BirdLife consortium have employed over 200 staff - mainly from local communities - to ensure that the 100,000 hectares of forest are safe from fires and illegal logging. “We are working hard to ensure the indigenous communities who still live sustainably in the forest feel the benefits of the project, with many social development and employment opportunities being made available”, said Dr Marco Lambertini - Chief Executive of BirdLife International.

“Just three years into the project the results are already impressive, with a sharp decline in forest fires, illegal logging and poaching”, added Dr Lambertini.

Singapore Airlines contributes to 'Harapan Fund'

Recognising the effectiveness of BirdLife’s approach to tropical forest conservation and restoration, earlier today Singapore Airlines announced a US$3 million contribution to establish a 'Harapan Fund' managed by BirdLife.

"Forests are among the world’s chief carbon stores, and the arrestment of deforestation is a key step towards combating climate change,” said Mr Bey Soo Khiang - Singapore Airline’s Senior Executive Vice-President Marketing and Corporate Services. “The money contributed will be used to finance ongoing core operations such as the employment of forest patrols to prevent illegal logging and forest fires as well as plant and species protection programmes”.

"Singapore Airlines is pleased and excited to be a part of this initiative which has tangible environmental benefits not just for Indonesia, but the international community as well," he added.

"We are delighted that Singapore Airlines has decided to help us conserve tropical forests like Harapan”, said Dr Lambertini. “This will help to preserve their invaluable biodiversity and crucial eco-services, and combat greenhouse emissions from deforestation and forest fires. Singapore Airlines has shown real long-sighted vision and corporate environmental responsibility at a time when tropical forests need more help than ever".

Conserving forests across the tropics

Finally, delegates from the business world heard how BirdLife intends to grow a new global ‘Forest and Climate Fund’ to conserve a portfolio of sites identified from across the tropics. These sites include Cambodia’s Western Siem Pang Important Bird Area (IBA) - one of the last areas of the dry and semi-evergreen forests of mainland South-East Asia.

“This site is of global conservation importance and supports populations of five Critically Endangered bird species making it globally unique”, said His Excellency Chea Sam Ang - deputy chief of Cambodia’s Forestry Administration - at the evening event.

In Cambodia, the Forestry Administration and BirdLife International have a long-established collaborative programme to conserve IBAs in The Kingdom. “The Forestry Administration looks forward to further strengthening our collaboration with BirdLife and to working together to secure the conservation of Western Siem Pang”, announced His Excellency Chea Sam Ang.

Wider corporate support needed

To conserve sites like Harapan and Western Siem Pang, BirdLife needs others to join Singapore Airlines and invest in tropical forest conservation action around the globe.

“The combination of biodiversity conservation, haze prevention and tangible contribution to combat global warming, creates a strong ethical and business case for companies to invest in tropical forest conservation”, said Dr Geh Min from the Nature Society (Singapore). A global market of carbon credits from natural forests was discussed by the world’s governments in 2008 under the UN Convention on Climate Change, but is likely to take a decade to come into action.

“We can’t wait this long”, said Dr Geh. “Millions of hectares of tropical forests across the tropics are being lost - now is the time to invest in their restoration.

This is a wonderful chance for Singapore to do her part to save the Earth, benefit ourselves and our neighbours - a shared dream come true”.

Source: BirdLife International

(Reuters) - China's plans to launch a series of pilot carbon trading projects starting next year underscores its need to curb its soaring greenhouse gas emissions -- now believed to be the world's largest.

With power capacity set to double again in the next decade to 1,600 gigawatts, far more than the United States, billions of dollars of investment in cleaner technologies will be needed, and a carbon price would help increase energy efficiency without jeopardising breakneck economic growth.

It could also be a boon to some domestic environmental exchanges if a compulsory national trading scheme is launched.

But experts say China, the world's second-largest energy consumer, won't be rushing to launch a national emissions trading scheme or to commit to absolute emissions reduction targets.

"The big picture will be worked out before March, but I believe there are going to be certain components that need more time to be worked out -- the details on how to implement it will take some time," said Changhua Wu, China director at the London-based Climate Group.

In the short term, China will want to protect its position in a U.N.-backed global carbon trading scheme that has earned it billions of dollars from rich nations in exchange for carbon offsets, known as certified emission reductions (CERs).

Beijing will also be cautious given that global climate talks on a "scaled-up" version of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), capable of delivering even more investment, have largely stalled.

EXPERT PANEL

A researcher at the National Development and Reform Commission told Reuters that an expert panel has been working for more than a year on pilot carbon trading schemes in high-emission provinces or sectors -- but dramatic gestures are unlikely.

"Nothing is decided yet and China is still looking to see what happens to the CDM and the global climate talks," said the researcher, who did not want to give his name because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

The NDRC confirmed on Tuesday this week it was looking into the possibility of using "market mechanisms" in a number of pilot low-carbon cities and regions.

A broad commitment to carbon trading will be included in China's 2011-2015 five-year plan, to be ratified by parliament in March 2011, but the full details are unlikely to emerge immediately, said Wu of The Climate Group, who has been involved in the consultations.

The cornerstone of any Chinese carbon market will be the country's pledge, made last year, to reduce its 2005 carbon intensity rate -- the amount of CO2 produced per unit of GDP -- by 40-45 percent before the end of 2020.

The China Daily newspaper said in July that officials had "reached a consensus" that CO2 trading would be a necessary component.

ZhongXiang Zhang, a carbon expert at the East West Center in Hawaii, said China's intensity targets would eventually be "converted to absolute emission caps at company levels" and that this would form the basis for a domestic trading platform.

PROTECTING THE CDM

The CDM, part of the United Nations' Kyoto Protocol, grants CERs to industrialised nations when they invest in clean-energy projects in the developing world. Those CERs are traded or used to comply with Kyoto targets.

While it remains unclear what the CDM will look like after 2012 when the Kyoto Protocol's first phase expires, its future direction is expected to shape China's own carbon market plans.

China has supported calls for a "scaling-up" of the old project-based CDM but it has also expressed opposition to reforms proposed by Europe that would commit entire sectors, rather than single projects, to reducing CO2.

While domestic sectoral targets are on its agenda, Beijing has complained that introducing such methods to the post-Kyoto CDM amounts to a "mandatory" cut and thus violates the Kyoto principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities". This says rich nations should bear most of the burden of cutting CO2.

China's concerns are practical as well as ideological. If a company already has to meet CO2 targets at home, it might find itself in violation of a key concept known as "additionality": if its carbon reduction plans would have gone ahead anyway, it is not entitled to "additional" CDM revenue through issuing of CERs.

Zhang of the East-West Center said China will make sure that any local market it sets up will remain strictly domestic and unconnected from the CDM or any of its potential replacements.

If the EU gets its way on CDM reform, it could complicate China's plans to cap sectoral emissions or force a level of market integration that it is not prepared to accept, Zhang said.

A FEW PIONEERS

Whatever happens to the CDM, China's 20 or so environmental exchanges are hoping government commitments to reduce CO2 will boost their own voluntary trading schemes and eventually put them at the centre of a single global market.

So far, Chinese voluntary emissions trading has remained negligible, with no compelling reasons to participate.

"I think they have explored all options and tried their best but the regulatory system is the major problem -- you cannot rely on a few pioneers," said Allan Zhang, director of sustainable business solutions at PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Beijing.

A compulsory, not piecemeal, scheme was also crucial.

The China Beijing Environmental Exchange (CBEEX) could benefit most if firms were forced to buy CO2 credits. Its general manager, Mei Dewen, said it was now a matter of preparation.

Mandatory "cap and trade" schemes might still be some way away, but the issue of pre-compliance -- buying carbon credits now in order to meet binding targets imposed in the future -- could still drive domestic buyers, he said.

"Cap and trade is the Ferrari," Mei told Reuters in June. "We are now just driving a tractor, but things could change -- if you can't drive the tractor then you won't be able to drive the Ferrari."

($1 = 6.778 Yuan)

(By David Stanway; Editing by David Fogarty)

Source: Reuters

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