Indonesia Sets Sights on New Round of Carbon Cuts in Cancun

Fidelis E. Satriastanti -

Despite doubts about the creation of a binding treaty to cut greenhouse gas emissions at the United Nations Climate Change Conference here, Indonesia is still hopeful of a “balanced outcome.”

Tazwin Hanif, the head of Indonesia’s negotiating team at the conference, which opened on Monday, said the host country hoped to avoid the mistakes of last year’s climate summit in Copenhagen by holding “inclusive and transparent meetings where all parties are involved.”

“Our position is clear, we want Cancun’s outcome to be balanced,” he said.

This means, he said, the inclusion in the summit’s outcome of developing countries’ demand for a “second commitment period” for emissions-cutting by developed countries.

The first commitment period, included in the Kyoto Protocol, required developed countries to cut their emissions by 5.2 percent from 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012.

“Developing countries are still trying to get an agreement on that second commitment period. If not, it will be hard to set up other agreements,” Tazwin said.

Developing countries, he said, are demanding emissions cuts of 25 percent to 80 percent by 2020.

Meanwhile, the World Wildlife Fund urged delegates to discuss key issues that were not fully tackled in Denmark last year.

These include climate finance, protecting forests, finalizing a deal on helping vulnerable communities adapt to climate change and establishing a transparent system for implementing emissions cuts

“The Cancun outcome needs to explicitly recognize the shortfall in action to cut emissions to safe levels and protect people and the planet from climate impacts,” said Gordon Shepherd, a WWF director of international policy.

“And then, building on this national momentum, lay out a clear plan for catching up.”

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