Ministers of environment and finance from various countries, including Indonesia, were gathered at Poznan, Poland. They discussed steps as responses to climate change.

The meeting was held in the middle of anxiety that financial crisis might shatter the efforts from Governments and industries to against global warming. In the meeting, ministers and finance officers were learnt fiscal and non budgetary instruments in favor to help countries on reducing glasshouse gas emissions and promoting energy efficiency.

Ministers and environment officers from around 190 countries were focusing to formulate a tractate as a substitute for Kyoto Protocol before December of next year. For those who criticize, Kyoto Protocol which will be ended by 2012 is not effective because it only requires 30% of total world emission.

Kyoto Protocol is also failed to put United States of America (USA) and China, two world’s highest emissions and others high income countries which will increase their emissions in the next decades. However, after Obama elected as USA’s president, hopefully, this story would be part of the past.

Based on a petition which distributed by Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, USA, on May 17th 1974, it can be marked as unwillingness of USA to “pay” more in order to combat global warming. More than 17,000 scientists, on which two thousands are physics, geophysics, specialists of climate, meteorology, and environment, were signed the petition. One sentence in the petition declares that “There is no scientific proof that emissions from carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and other glasshouse gases have acute consequences on earth’s temperature and harm the climate.” ***

Unlike the Oregon Petition, “Human Development Report 2007/2008.Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World” (UNDP, 2008) states that “Climate change is now a scientifically established fact.” In fact, after the high technology era, the earth’s temperature is increased 0.7oC with faster escalation, especially in the world which full with socio-economic discrepancy.

No less than five key transmission mechanisms which were caused by climate change and have negative impacts to human development. First impact is found thru agriculture products and food sustainability. Climate change is affected rainfall rate, air temperature and the availability of water resources for agriculture in vulnerable areas.

Indonesia experiences production deprivation of agriculture which has impact to poverty in rural areas. Second impact is flood and water restriction. By 2080, around 1.8 million people in Middle Asia, North China and some South Asia including Indonesia will be subjected to flood because of melted Himalaya ice. Irrigation system will be broken because of overflowed rivers. At the same time, some areas would experience limited resource of safe drinking water.

As the third, the sea level rise will initiate many climate disasters. The melting ice in the poles is the reason. The air temperature will increase up to 3-4oC and might caused flood and rob. Small islands in the Pacific and Caribbean, including Indonesia would experience catastrophic damages.

The fourth is the disruption of ecological system and extinction of biodiversity. Climate change was causing change in the ecological systems. Half of World’s coral reefs, for example, are damaged due to sea warming. The damage will also happen in many ecosystems such as ice-based decologies at poles and marine-ecosystems.

For most animals, this climate change is too fast. The 3oC increase in temperature, will endangered around 20-30% of land species. Fifth, it will threat the human healthiness. Rich countries are already preparing, with future public health system due to the climate shocks, to face the heatwave at Europe in 2003 for instance. Poor countries are in the contrary.

Around 220-400 million people, for example, are predicted will be infected with Malaria which is currently infecting around one million people in a year. Likewise, with dengue fever disease that is predicted will be worsen after climate change, especially in South America and some of  East/Southeast Asia. The five problems that mentioned are connected each others under the interaction with socio-economic and ecology processes of human development.

To decide the target for mitigation is an important first step. However, to convert it into policies (international and national) is more challenging. England, for example, has spent US$1.2 million per year for the flood prevention.

In the Netherlands, the people are invested to buy houses that can float on water. On the other hand, the Switzerland’s tourism industry is invested on snow making machines. These are the ways how people and rich countries anticipate the climate change. How about poor countries, about us? ***

Globally, climate change issue will be the main focus in the middle of people’s concern on financial crisis. “Efforts on overcome the climate change are also contributed in fixing the financial crisis,” said the Indonesian Environment Minister, Rahmat Witoelar on his speech about results of Poznan’s Conference.

As the third highest CO2 emissions maker in the world, Indonesia should already identify which sectors that take part on reducing emission and healthy development mechanism and also develop priority issues to negotiate with other countries for mutual cooperation. As an islands nation with 65% of its citizens live in coastal areas, global warming will have impact on rising sea level, should be seen as a serious threat for Indonesia.

Yet, as an agricultural country, agricultural productivity will also be threatened because of the climate change. In the period of 2000-2005, Indonesia was the top forest destroyer, it was because by that period, the number of damaged forests was reached 2% or around 1.87 million hectare per month. This number is equal with 51 kilometers per day, or 300 soccer field in every hour.

As the result, environment disasters were happened everywhere. Forest destroying act in the developing countries, including Indonesia, sometimes still be seen as the cost of industrial growth. In the last years, The Ministry of Forestry with its National Movement on Forest and Land Rehabilitation (GNRHL) is put targets of rehabilitation which are at least 300,000 hectare forest in 29 river flow area and 500,000 hectare in 2003 and 2004.

Meanwhile, in the next years, the rehabilitation is targeted to reach 600,000 ha (2005), 700,000 ha (2006) and 900,000 ha (2007). Yet, these targets have not been reached. Even in some areas, this program was failed. The reason was corruption which reminds us with reforestation program in the new order government’s era which was also failed due to the same reason. If it will be continued, the doomsday’s forecast that said will come in a short time will might happen, at least for several areas in this country. (*)

Ivan A Hadar

Koordinator Nasional Target MDGs Bappenas/UNDP

publised at: www.news.okezone.com