Antara News, Fardah, Friday, April 23, 2010 16:34 WIB
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono when addressing the Global Ministerial Environment Forum in Bali last February, called for the adoption of a green economy development strategy which was pro-growth, pro-job and pro-poor.
"Striving for a Green Economy, we will more quickly mainstream ecological concerns into our economic decision-making. This can ensure sustainable and inclusive growth and the achievement of the MDGs. Thus we have a clear opportunity to reshape our economic systems and to introduce 'green growth' as a global paradigm," he told roughly 100 environment ministers attending the forum.
About two months after the president`s speech, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, also in Bali, last April 20, 2010, announced that the Second United Indonesia Cabinet had launched a green economic program.
"The green economic program is part of Indonesia`s sustainable development plan which is pro-growth, pro-job, and pro-poor," the finance minister told the press at the Tampak Siring presidential palace, Bali, early this week.
However, Indonesia needs technological innovations, and competitive as well as productive data for the creation of a green economy, she added.
"In a working group with a number of technologists, innovators and private businessmen we discussed efforts to improve competitive and productive data, as well as technological innovations in order to strengthen our green economy efforts," the finance minister said.
The government plans to intensify synergy and partnership with research and development institutions to form an innovative development forum.
To support the efforts to achieve a green economy, the cabinet had drawn up programs on food resilience through implementation of sustainable agriculture, sustainable forestry management, efficiency and renewable energy usage, clean technology support, waste management, efficient and low carbon transportation management and green infrastructure development.
Sri Mulyani was at Tampak Siring Palace early this week to attend a national coordinating meeting chaired by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and participated in by all cabinet ministers, governors, provincial legislative councils (DPRD) chairmen, state enterprises (BUMN) leaders, and state institution officials.
A green economy is a new paradigm that, in many ways, is beginning to be seen globally.
The world is slowly moving towards a green economy, according to Economist Pahvan Sukdhev, who is a special adviser to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)`s Green Economy Initiative.
"And, what you see is a new economy breaking through what`s breaking down : that heavy, industrialized, over-ambitious, over-productive, over-consumptive model, which is actually going to completely destroy our chances of survival in the future. And, what the green economy is, it`s an alternative that doesn`t do all that," Pahvan said at the Global Ministerial Environment Forum organized by UNEP in Bali, last February.
Pahvan Sukdhev said that the green economy can generate growth. The International Lthe abor Organization estimates that renewable energy could generate up to 20 million new jobs, if it were to represent 30 percent of the worldwide energy output.
Malaysia, Indonesia`s immediate neighbor, also looks at the potential of developing green technology as a future contributor to the country`s economy.
The country would need to address legislation issues in order for the renewable energy industry to be able to gain revenue and contribute to the country, Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Mukhriz Mahathir said in Kuala Lumpur, recently.
For now, the green technology only plays a minimal part in Malaysia`s economy compared to other countries like Germany and Korea, he said.
Green economy is necessary because of Malaysia`s commitment to reduce carbon dioxide emission up to 40 per cent by 2020, he said.
South Korea has been considered a leading country in terms of green growth in the international community. President Lee Myung-bak signed the Framework Act on Low Carbon Green Growth on Jan. 13, 2010.
In close collaboration with private enterprises, the Lee Myung-bak administration will invest some 107 trillion won ($95 billion) to implement the green growth policy based on its grand five-year plan from 2009 to 2013, for the sake of creating new growth engines and helping the nation`s industries adapt to climate change.
In December 2007, in fact, when Bali was about to host the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged leaders to create a global framework to promote green economics and development.
Writing an Op-Ed in The Washington Post early December 2007, the Secretary-General said "Handled correctly, our fight against global warming could set the stage for an eco-friendly transformation of the global economy - one that spurs growth and development rather than crimps it, as many nations fear."
Like the Industrial Revolution, the technology revolution and the modern era of globalization, the Secretary-General observed that the world is on the cusp of a new age of green economics.
Ban said that rather than suffer from a transition to a green economy, growth may in fact gain momentum through the creation of new jobs as investment in zero-greenhouse gas energy surges.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has estimated that global investment in zero-greenhouse energy will reach $1.9 trillion by 2020 - a figure the Secretary-General called "seed money for a wholesale reconfiguration of the global industry."
As for Indonesia, a study analyzing the impacts of switching to a low-carbon economy has shown that investing more in energy efficiency, reducing the use of coal-based fuels and stopping deforestation, could improve per capita incomes and help ease the level of unemployment.
The joint study was carried out by Padjadjaran University, the Center for Economic and Development Studies (CEDS), Strategic Asia and the office of the State Minister for the Environment.
The study found that these benefits would be gained by increasing energy efficiency by 25 percent, reducing the use of coal-based fuels by 50%, implementing a US$50 per ton tax on carbon production, and reducing the rate of deforestation by 10 percent.
"The environmental and economic benefits of such measures are huge. It would cut 177 million tons of CO2 emissions and increase GDP by 2.7 percent [Rp 133 trillion] per year," Arief Anshory Yusuf, a researcher from Padjadjaran University told The Jakarta Post.
Yusuf said that green economy benefits could create new jobs for more than 3 million people, and the number of poor people would be reduced by more than 4 million per year.
Meanwhile, Pahvan Sukdhev believed that the change called for to create green economies is on a scale similar to the industrial revolution, but with a heightened sense of urgency, because of the threat of climate change.
He also believed that GDP growth is never a solution to poverty. However, he reminded that educating the public is important, but above all, a green economy requires a high political commitment that the world has yet to show.
Indonesia`s green economy strategy is still in a very early stage, but it should be implemented seriously and soon if the government wants to meet its commitment to a voluntary gas emission reduction target of 26 percent on a business-as-usual basis by 2020, or 41 percent with enhanced international assistance.
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