VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesia is one of the few countries and the largest among the developing countries to take concrete steps to realize a just and affordable energy transition, a Finance Ministry official has said.

“This shows a strong signal of Indonesia’s seriousness to address the risk of climate change,” Chief of the Fiscal Policy Board at the Finance Ministry Febrio Kacaribu said in a written statement released on Monday.

The Indonesian Government will optimize its active involvement in various international forums, including the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to set an example to other countries and catalyze cooperation in mitigating and overcoming the impact of climate change through concrete action, he said.

The Finance Minister and other stakeholders are currently attending COP26 and meetings related to global efforts to mitigate and prevent the impact of climate change in Glasgow, Scotland, from October 31 to November 12, 2021, he informed.

Kacaribu said COP26 is an essential meeting because it is the first summit aimed at evaluating progress achieved since the Paris Agreement was adopted in 2016, where 191 countries must set more ambitious targets for climate change action.

“COP26 is a great hope for many parties, including finance ministers and multilateral financial institutions to accomplish their commitment to reducing emissions,” he added.

One of the important themes of COP26 is the role of climate funding wherein developed nations prepare funding sources to assist developing nations adapt to and mitigate climate change, Kacaribu said.

Indonesia has urged developed nations to show concrete action in providing funding support to developing nations in accordance with several issues discussed under the agenda of COP26 climate funding—long-term financing under which developed nations will mobilize funds to the tune of US$100 billion per year starting 2020, he informed.

He said Indonesia, especially the Finance Ministry, has guided the discussion on this agenda in various rooms while at the same time, taking concrete action to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

“The main priority to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is the forestry sector, energy sector, and transportation sector. These three sectors cover 97 percent of the target of emission reduction under Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Indonesia," Kacaribu said.

To support the program, Indonesia has conducted carbon pricing through the Presidential Regulation on carbon economic value (NEK), with the main scheme covering carbon trading, fees on carbon, and result-based payment. (Antaranews)

Indonesia is an important trading and economic partner for Switzerland, Swiss Council of States President Alex Kuprecht has said.

"Indonesia is the 3rd largest democracy in the world, after the United States, and India. Indonesia has the potential to become the world's 4th largest economic giant," Kuprecht said in a meeting with the media here on Monday.

Indonesia has been one of the eight priority countries in SECO's economic cooperation and development program since 2009, he added.

According to Kuprecht, economic development cooperation between Switzerland and Indonesia for 2021-2024 includes strengthening public institutions through the efficient use of resources and improving the competitiveness of the private sector, especially MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises).

The two countries' relations can be bolstered through sustainable tourism development with a particular focus on issues of gender equality, climate change, and sustainability, he added.

He said the IE-CEPA, a comprehensive economic partnership agreement between Indonesia and the four EFTA (European Free Trade Association) countries—Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Iceland, and Norway—will take effect on November 1, 2021.

Based on the results of the vote or referendum held in March, Kuprecht said the majority of Swiss people support the realization of a free trade agreement with Indonesia through IE-CEPA.

"The IE-CEPA agreement is expected to encourage and push up cooperation between Indonesia and Switzerland," he affirmed.

The scope of IE-CEPA includes improvements in market access, legal certainty in products and services, procurement of goods and services, and labor rights.

"The positive impact of the comprehensive economic partnership agreement encompasses sustainable trade, creating jobs for EFTA countries, including Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Iceland, and Norway," he pointed out.

During his visit to Jakarta, Kuprecht said he aimed to discuss the IE-CEPA agreement and partnership between ASEAN and Switzerland.

Kuprecht, who is the parliament speaker, and Swiss Member of Council, Benedikt Würth, are also expected to visit the Lombok Tourism Polytechnic which teaches sustainable management. (Antaranews)

Indonesia will seek an inclusive agreement useful for both developed and developing nations during the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP-4) to the Minamata Convention on Mercury, an official has said.

The convention is being held virtually from November 1 to 5, 2021.

“At COP-4, Indonesia will encourage the achievement of inclusive agreement useful to developed and developing nations,” Director General of Toxic and Hazardous Waste Management at the Environment and Forestry Ministry Rosa Vivien Ratnawati said on Monday.

Ratnawati, who is also president of COP-4 to the Minamata Convention on Mercury, said Indonesia will make efforts to encourage the signing of an agreement to accommodate the interests of developed and developing nations so that all parties can benefit from the Minamata Convention.

In the first phase of the conference, participants will discuss work and budget which will serve as a central issue of the meeting held virtually, she informed.

"At the COP-4.1, we hope and encourage every party to come up with effective views. The issues discussed at the meeting will hopefully come close to a consensus so that the adoption process at COP-4.2 will run smoothly,” she said.

The Minamata Convention on Mercury is an international pact aimed at protecting humans and the environment from the impact of mercury. Indonesia will host COP-4 to Minamata Convention virtually in two stages: the convention is being held virtually from November 1 and 5, 2021, and will take place face-to-face in Bali in 2022.

The convention aims to encourage the reduction and eradication of Minamata disease caused by acute poisoning and persistent exposure to high levels of mercury.

The Minamata Convention is named after the Japanese city of Minamata, which experienced a severe, decades-long incidence of mercury poisoning after industrial wastewater from a chemical factory was discharged into Minamata Bay. (Antaranews)

Head of the Research and Development Agency at the Ministry of Home Affairs Agus Fatoni has asked regional governments to keep staying committed to bureaucratic reform because it is essential to realize a clean and capable government, as well as to improve the quality of public services.

The bureaucratic reform is conducted by referring to eight areas of change, including the management of change, public service, supervision, accountability, institutions, as well as structuring the management sector, human resources (HR), and policy deregulation, he said.

In carrying out the bureaucratic reform in those eight areas, the regional governments need to implement policy breakthroughs in six innovation areas, Fatoni said in a statement that ANTARA received here Sunday.

Those six areas of innovation are essential and in line with the goals of bureaucratic reform so that changes could be realized more quickly, he said.

In detail, he expounded that innovation in the six areas includes administrative innovation, management innovation, policy innovation, frugal innovation, as well as innovation in the technology and social sectors.

For administrative innovation, the regional governments can adopt new ways of managing administration so that their performance accountability and decision making can be more effective and efficient.

He explained that innovation in the management area is an innovation that mainly focuses on fixing procedures and bureaucracy in a bid to improve organizational performance.

"The regional governments can make efforts to form policies that are more efficient, selective, applicable, and can be adopted by various parties to solve problems," he said.

Aside from that, the regional governments are expected to generate product innovations at lower costs to respond to limited availability of resources. That step, he said, is called frugal innovation.

Meanwhile, for innovation in the technology sector, the regional administrations can adopt new production processes by doing a series of research and development, or in other words, technology transfer.

"Innovation in the social sector must also be included. This effort is aimed to improve socio-economic conditions and realize more inclusive development," he remarked. (Antaranews)