VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The hosts of the COP27 climate talks on Tuesday launched a global plan to help the world's poorest communities withstand the impacts of global warming.

Unveiling the Sharm-El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda, named after the Egyptian resort where the talks are being held, the plan sets out 30 goals to hit by the end of the decade to enhance the lives of 4 billion people.

The hope is that by setting targets across themes including food and agriculture, water and nature, and coastlines and oceans, the public and private sectors will work with common goals and accelerate adaptation to change.

Urgent targets highlighted by the COP27 Presidency include moving the world to more sustainable agriculture practices that could increase yields by 17% and cut emissions by 21%.

Other goals include protecting 3 billion people from catastrophic weather events by installing early warning systems to help them prepare; investing $4 billion into mangrove restoration, which protects against flooding; and expanding clean cooking options to 2.4 billion people to reduce indoor air pollution.

"The Sharm-El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda is a critical step at COP27," COP27 President and Egypt's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry said in a statement

"The COP27 presidency has long articulated our commitment to bringing together state and non-state actors to progress on adaptation and resilience for the 4 billion people that live in the most climate vulnerable regions by 2030."

In total, the plan seeks to mobilise up to $300 billion a year from private and public investors. By contrast, the world's biggest multilateral development banks spent $17 billion on adaptation finance for poorer countries in 2021, a report by the lenders published last month showed.

The majority of climate finance goes towards mitigation efforts, such as reducing emissions, despite U.N. pleas that half of all funding should be channelled into helping vulnerable countries adapt.

Africa, hosting its first COP, receives just 3% of total climate finance globally and was being "short changed", Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank, told a conference session on the theme of adaptation.

Among specific Africa-focused projects to be announced at COP27 that will help meet the adaptation targets are a plan to improve water resilience for 29 million people across 100 cities.

Going forward, the U.N. Climate Change High-Level Champions for COP27, which form a link between the hosts of the COP, other national governments and non-state actors such as companies, said they would continue to refine and expand the targets.

U.N. climate chief Simon Stiell said: "The Sharm el-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda firmly puts key human needs at its core, along with concrete, specific action on the ground to build resilience to climate change." (Reuters)

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin highlighted Indonesia's three points of view regarding efforts to address climate change while delivering a national statement at the Conference of The Parties 27 (COP27) Summit.

"First, COP27 in Egypt needs to become an 'implementation COP.' One year after Glasgow (COP26), there has been no significant global progress. For this reason, COP27 must be used not only to advance ambition but also implementation, including the fulfillment of support from developed countries to developing countries," Amin remarked in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, Monday.

As per the second point, Amin invited all parties to become part of the solution.

"All countries must contribute according to their respective capacities, with the spirit of burden-sharing instead of burden-shifting. Countries that are more capable must help and empower other countries," Amin remarked.

Under the third point brought up, the vice president said that Indonesia continues to strive for lead by example, including by submitting the Enhanced Nationally Determined Contribution (ENCD) or Indonesia's Commitment to Contribute More in Maintaining Global Temperature.

"The commitment contains the target of reducing Indonesia's emissions to 31.8 percent with its own capabilities and 43.2 percent from international support. This increase is in line with significant improvements in our policies, including the expansion of nature conservation and restoration, the implementation of a carbon tax to achieve zero emissions by 2070, the development of the electric vehicle ecosystem, and the initiation of the B40 biodiesel program," Amin noted.

To ensure funding for energy transition in Indonesia, Amin remarked that the government had also launched the Country Platform for Energy Transition Mechanism.

"All these national efforts must be accompanied by clear international support, including the creation of an effective and equitable carbon market, investment for energy transition, and funding for climate action," he added.

Moreover, as holder of the 2022 G20 Presidency, Indonesia will continue to encourage green recovery and strong and inclusive climate action. Furthermore, through the ASEAN Chair in 2023, the country will continue to pay attention to strengthening climate action.

In his closing statement, Vice President Amin invited all countries to strengthen collaboration based on dialog and trust.

"We must do that to create a better and sustainable world," he remarked.

Minister of Environment and Forestry, Siti Nurbaya Bakar, and Director General of Multilateral Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tri Tharyat, accompanied the vice president. (Antaranews)

The development of Indonesia's future capital city (IKN) Nusantara, with the concept of Forest City, will begin with forest and land rehabilitation to ensure that the city will be ready to tackle climate change.

Director General of Watershed Management and Forest Rehabilitation (PDASRH) at the Environment and Forestry Ministry Dyah Murtiningsih noted in a statement on Tuesday that the development project would pay attention to landscape management and biodiversity in the area.

The attempt is made on account of the fact that Kalimantan Island, where IKN is located -- precisely in East Kalimantan Province -- has diverse species, as well as endemic fauna, such as orangutans and proboscis monkeys.

"IKN must be a habitat for endemic flora and fauna," the director general stated in an online discussion on Monday (November 7, 2022) at the Indonesian Pavilion at the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-27 UNFCCC).

Currently, the surrounding area where the IKN will be built is an industrial plantation forest. As the city will be developed with the Forest City concept, the surrounding area will be turned into a tropical rain forest by planting endemic plants, she remarked.

"The condition of the natural forest around it (the IKN) must be maintained and preserved," she remarked.

The Environment and Forestry Ministry has prepared an area of 16 hectares for the construction of the Mentawir Nursery that will provide 15 million trees annually to support the forest development and rehabilitation around IKN.

Furthermore, the attempts to restore tropical rain forests will be made by involving local communities.

The government has also invited the private sector to become actively involved in developing the IKN Forest City with the Public-Private Partnership scheme.

Murtiningsih expected that involvement of the private sector in the construction of the city can support the reduction of carbon emissions, which is important to mitigate climate change.

IKN Nusantara will be constructed on an area of 256 thousand hectares that is divided into three zones of the central government area, 6,671 hectares; the state capital area, 56,181 hectares; as well as the development zone. (Antaranews)

Coordinating Minister of Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto expressed optimism that bilateral relations between Indonesia and South Korea would improve, as it would be beneficial for both countries.

While receiving the visit of Ambassador of South Korea to Indonesia Park Tae-sung here, Monday , Hartarto expressed hope that cooperation could be expanded in the energy transition, healthcare, and digital economy sectors., according to a  statement from the minister's office here on Tuesday.

He noted that South Korea was placed 7th in terms of investment realization in Indonesia during the January-September 2022 period, with a total investment value of US$1.66 billion spread across 4,016 projects.

"Those investments will have great contribution to the development of the industry and creation of jobs in Indonesia," Hartarto noted.

He said that Ambassador Park's visit aims to bolster bilateral cooperation, especially through the holding of the Indonesia-Korea Business Round Table and the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on digital economic cooperation.

The MoU will be signed between Hartarto and the South Korean minister of trade, industry, and energy on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Bali on November 15-16, he noted.

The coordinating minister commended the MoU as a foundation to expand the bilateral digital economic cooperation and develop cooperation between private enterprises of both countries.

He also lauded the Indonesia-Korea Business Round Table being organized on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Bali, which could encourage cooperation between private enterprises of both countries and become a medium for Indonesian and South Korean entrepreneurs to discuss and expand networking in domestic markets.

Hartarto lauded the completion of the Indonesia-Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IKCEPA) and encouraged all parties to partake in expediting its implementation by January 2023. (antaranews)