Isramart :SBY can rally support for legally binding CO2 cuts

Isramart news:
President Susilo Bambang Yu-dhoyono made it clear at a press conference after the closing of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit Monday in Singapore that Indonesia would fight for a legally binding carbon emissions cut target at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen next month.

The President, fully aware of the US’s stance to reject even the slightest negotiation for a legally binding target before it can have a climate change law, said he would go to Copenhagen to ensure he could do something to save the deal and fight pessimism already in air during the APEC meeting.

“It is in our national interest to have a legally binding climate deal as we have already felt the pinch of the climate change impact,” Yu-dhoyono said.

“How many of our islands will sink, or how many fishermen will suffer if we don’t get a deal as soon as possible?”

He said Indonesia, even though it was a developing country, would set an example to the world by vowing to reduce its emissions by 26 percent by 2020 from pre-1990 levels.

While he agreed the signing of the new protocol could be done after the Dec. 7-18 conference, he said the countries must first agree on the legally binding commitment with certain targets in Copenhagen.

Yudhoyono said any failure to get a legally binding commitment in Copenhagen risked the climate negotiation being dragged on for years, as happened with the WTO trade deal, which he said had been hijacked by narrow-minded national interests.

“I have made clear before the other APEC leaders that one way of achieving concrete results in Copenhagen is that we must give clear directions and authority to our negotiators so that they can make a decision,” he said.

He added events at the Bali climate conference two years ago were an example of how the international community could break an impasse through strong political commitment from leaders and enough authority from negotiators to reach a decision.

After days of deadlocked negotiations and apparent failure to reach an agreement, Yudhoyono and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made a last-minute intervention during a plenary session through speeches that changed the mood of the conference, resulting hours later in what became known as the Bali Road Map and Bali Action Plan.

But Copenhagen could be tougher than Bali, as the US, which played along in Bali, did not give its negotiators enough ammunition to negotiate with, as all climate change decisions seemingly hung on a climate bill at the US Senate.

As it is now clear the US Senate will never pass the bill on climate change before the Copenhagen climate talks, US President Barack Obama quickly offered what he called a two-step solution, a move that would erase the Bali climate road map and plan of action all together.

Copenhagen, US officials said, would aim only at getting political commitment from world leaders to agree on signing a new climate protocol to replace the expiring Kyoto Protocol during a meeting in the following year, with no mention of legally binding emissions cut targets.

Analysts say if Yudhoyono can get key allies on board, such as Australia, China, Brazil and India, this could lead to a Bali-style breakthrough.

The President has already discussed climate change with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on the sidelines of the APEC summit.

“The two men held a private meeting here,” said presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal.

“The President plans to visit Australia next February, and will also address the Australian parliament.”

Analysts say India and Brazil share the same interest in seeing the climate deal become a reality.

They add Yudhoyono could have an easier time dealing with Obama in Copenhagen than George W. Bush in Bali.