VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) has pegged Indonesia's solar energy potential at 3,294.36 GWp. (ANTARA PHOTO/IRWANSYAH PUTRA/KT) - 

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) said it has drawn up a roadmap for the energy transition to help Indonesia achieve its carbon-neutral target by 2060.

The government has prepared four strategies to reduce carbon emissions: the application of Carbon Capture, Usage, and Storage (CCUS) technology, routine flare restrictions, optimization of natural gas utilization for households and transportation, and reduction of methane emissions, it said.

"The government plans to implement CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage) for increasing oil and gas production and store potential emissions of about 48 million carbon dioxide (equivalent)," ESDM ministry's director of oil and gas program development, Dwi Anggoro Ismukurnianto, informed in a statement released here on Friday.

There are three fields that have conducted trials on the implementation of CCUS: Gundih, Sukowati, and Tangguh, he said.

The government is targeting to start CCUS at Gundih in 2024 or 2025 to prevent the release of an estimated three million tons of stored carbon in 10 years, he said. 

Meanwhile, Sukowati, as the prototype, will be started next year and completed in 2025, he said. It is targeted to reach its full scale in 2030, with the aim of preventing the release of an estimated 15 million tons of carbon dioxide in 25 years,he added.

"Tangguh field will apply CCUS in 2026, with an estimated 30 million tons of carbon dioxide in 10 years," he explained.

The second strategy is restricting the use of flares, as stipulated in the ESDM Ministerial Regulation No.17 of 2021 concerning the management of flare gas in the oil and gas industry, Ismukurnianto informed.

In the regulation, it is stated that the daily limit of flare used for oil fields for six months is a maximum of two MMSCFD, he said.

For gas fields, the daily cap on flare used for a six-month period is 2 percent of gas feeds, he noted. Meanwhile, oil and gas processing activities are not allowed to utilize flares, he said.

As per the rule, there is an obligation to make a plan for the utilization of flare gas in new refineries, cooperation in flare gas management, comprehensive reporting concepts, and the implementation of sanctions and awards, he said.

The third strategy is to optimize the utilization of natural gas for households and transportation, he said.

"Since 2009, the government has been building a natural gas network for households. The goal is to reduce 654 thousand tons of carbon dioxide by 2024," he said.

The conversion of kerosene to LPG is estimated to reduce 15.39 million tons of carbon dioxide by 2024, he said.

The use of natural gas as a public transport fuel is estimated to have prevented the release of 178 thousand tons of carbon dioxide in 2019, he said.

The fourth strategy is reducing methane emissions, he said. "Currently, Indonesia has priority to build a database of greenhouse gases, including reliable methane. It is important for the government to make valid identification in methane mitigation," he explained.

The government is also open to opportunities for collaboration for reducing methane emissions globally, he added//ANT

ASEAN and Japan Logo - 

ASEAN and Japan established the ASEAN-Japan Cooperation on Sports at the first ASEAN Plus Japan Ministerial Meeting on Sports (1st AMMS+Japan) in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, in 2017. Sharing the same concerns on gender equality in sports, the ASEAN-Japan Cooperation agreed on developing the ASEAN-Japan Actions on Sports. The project’s main purpose is to promote women’s and girls’ participation in sports, including female athletes, coaches, and female leaders in sports organisations.

The first activity, “ASEAN-Japan Workshop on Promoting Gender Equality in Sports,” took place on 10 -13 August 2021. It was hosted by the Japanese Centre for Research on Women in Sport of Juntendo University, through collaboration with Japan Sports Agency, ASEAN Secretariat and UN Women. The four-day online workshop featured 60 sports professionals and youth from 10 ASEAN Member States, Japan and ASEAN Secretariat.

Through this event, ASEAN and Japan hope to strengthen their cooperation by promoting gender equality in and through sports, as well as to empower women and girls in ASEAN Member States through life skills and leadership training in sports.

Building on the legacy of the Tokyo 2020 Games, ASEAN appointed ten prominent athletes and sports officials as ASEAN Women in Sports Ambassadors. The ambassadors will use their influence to promote gender equality and women empowerment through sports, across the region and spread encouraging messages to the ASEAN Community. This initiative is part of the Japan-funded ASEAN #WeScore Campaign.

The appointed ASEAN Women in Sports Ambassadors are HRH Princess ‘Azemah Ni'matul Bolkiah (polo athlete from Brunei Darussalam), Sokha Pov (traditional martial arts athlete from Cambodia), Leani Ratri Oktila (Indonesian para-badminton athlete), Soulamphone Kerdla (head coach of Lao PDR’s national swimming team), Farah Ann Abdul Hadi (Malaysian gymnast), Soe Soe Myar (Myanmar taekwondo athlete and referee), Hidilyn Diaz (Filipino weightlifter), Amita Berthier (Singaporean fencer), Panikpak Wongpattanakit (Thailand’s taekwondo athlete) and Tuyet Van Chau (Vietnamese taekwondo athlete).

They will share their views on women empowerment in an upcoming talk show to be held at the ASEAN Secretariat on December 3, which coincides with the International Day of Persons with Disabilities and the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence annual campaign. The talk show will touch on issues such as gender equality and women’s leadership, safeguarding of women and girls in sports, promoting the rights of persons with disabilities through sports, as well as the impacts of COVID-19 on sports and how to address it.

Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Ekkaphab Phanthavong, along with Director Tomohiko Arai (International Affairs Division Japan Sports Agency SOMS Leader), Assistant Professor Aya Noguchi (Juntendo University's Faculty of Sports and Health Sciences), and Jamshed M. Kazi (UN Women Country Representative, Indonesia and Liaison to ASEAN) will take part in the event.

ASEAN #WeScore campaign forms part of the ASEAN-Japan Actions on Sports, a project under the ASEAN Plus Japan Senior Officials Meeting on Sports (SOMS+Japan) funded by the Government of Japan through the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund. Prior to the talk show, the ASEAN Secretariat will hold a Tribute to Tokyo 2020 ASEAN Olympic and Paralympic Medallists.

ASEAN #WeScore Campaign contributes to the implementation of ASEAN Work Plan on Sports 2021-2025 and is in line with ASEAN Vision 2025 and the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 5: Achieving Gender Equality and Empowering All Women and Girls//VOI-NK 

Human Rights Watch said in a July report that at least 1,100 North Koreans are detained in China, Pyongyang's main ally and economic benefactor. (Photo: AFP/File/Greg Baker) - 

Chinese police have captured a North Korean prisoner who staged a daring escape from jail in October and had been on the run for more than forty days, authorities said Sunday (Nov 28).

Officials in northeast China were offering a US$23,000 bounty for the recapture of the escapee, in a manhunt that has sparked massive interest on social media.

The 39-year-old prisoner, identified by the Chinese name Zhu Xianjian, was jailed in China after fleeing reclusive North Korea.

He escaped the facility in Jilin city by scaling a shed and vaulting the outer wall on Oct 18, and managed to stay at large before being captured Sunday.

A one-line statement from Jilin police said he had been reprimanded at about 10am local time Sunday morning, without giving more details.

Videos shared by state-run Beijing News showed an emaciated-looking man being carried by several officers, with a photograph of him then lying on the ground with his hands behind his back.

Zhu was convicted of illegal entry into China, larceny and robbery, and was due for release and deportation back to the North in 2023, prompting online speculation that he broke out to avoid being sent back.

He illegally crossed a river separating North Korea from China in 2013. He then raided several houses in a nearby village, stealing money, mobile phones and clothes, court records show.

He also stabbed an elderly woman who discovered him and tried to flee in a taxi before being arrested by police.

Human Rights Watch said in a July report that at least 1,100 North Koreans are detained in China, Pyongyang's main ally and economic benefactor.

Many face deportation back to their home country upon release, where they may suffer torture and other rights violations, according to the NGO//CNA

Travellers at Sydney's International Airport on Nov 1, 2021. (File photo: AFP/Saeed Khan) - 

Health officials in Australia said Sunday (Nov 28) they had detected the COVID-19 Omicron strain for the first time after testing two passengers from southern Africa who flew into Sydney.

The eastern state of New South Wales' health authority said it had conducted urgent genomic testing and confirmed the new strain was present two passengers who landed in Sydney on Saturday.

Both passengers came from southern Africa and arrived in Australia on a Qatar Airways flight via Doha, NSW Health said in a statement.

They tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after arriving, leading to an urgent analysis for possible infection by the heavily mutated Omicron strain.

"The two positive cases, who were asymptomatic, are in isolation in the special health accommodation. Both people are fully vaccinated," NSW Health said.

Another 12 passengers from southern Africa in the same flight did not test positive for COVID-19 but have been placed in quarantine, it said.

About 260 passengers and crew on the plane have also been told to isolate, the health authority said.

Australia had earlier on Saturday imposed new restrictions on people who have been to nine southern African countries, as the highly infectious Omicron variant raises concerns about another wave of the pandemic.

Britain, Germany and Italy detected Omicron cases on Saturday as more nations imposed restrictions on travel from southern Africa.

New Zealand also announced fresh measures from Sunday evening, Radio New Zealand reported.

COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said late on Saturday that only New Zealand citizens will be allowed to travel into the country from the nine southern African nations, according to the news service.

Citizens would be required to stay in managed isolation for a full 14 days, as well as undergo testing, he was quoted as saying.

Australia early this month eased its international border restrictions for the first time during the pandemic, allowing fully vaccinated residents to return to the country without quarantine after higher vaccination levels.

Australia had largely stamped out infections for most of this year until an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant in late June spread rapidly across its east. About 205,000 cases and 1,985 deaths have been recorded so far, lower than many other countries in the developed world//CNA