Govt looking for seat on Green Climate Fund

Looking to influence how climate change money is allocated, Indonesia will nominate a candidate to serve on the Green Climate Fund’s (GCF) board, the Environment Minister says.

The GCF, which implements the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), will have 25 board members, and be comprised of 15 officials from developed countries and 10 officials from the developing world, including seven Asian members.

Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta said on Wednesday that GCF board members would have an important role in formulating the financial mechanism needed to support policies and projects, related to climate mitigation, adaptation, and capacity-building technology development and transfer in developing countries.

“If Indonesia had a representative on the GCF board, it would be better able to promote a more balanced use of the Global Climate Fund for the interests of developing countries,” he told journalists.

He made his comments after a meeting to discuss the results of the UN’s annual climate change meeting for 2010, which was held in Cancun, Mexico, from Nov. 29 to Dec. 10.

The government would submit its candidate to the UNFCCC secretariat by Feb. 21, he added.

At the UN climate change meeting in 2009 in Copenhagen, developed countries pledged US$100 billion to the GCF for climate mitigation and adaptation.

This was not enough to finance the global efforts needed to tackle climate change, according to one official.

“It’s only an initial fund which will hopefully trigger more global financing,” the Environment Ministry’s Assistant Minister for Global Environmental Affairs Liana Bratasida told The Jakarta Post.

She said the GCF board, with its membership balanced between developed and developing countries, would become an important entity to ensure climate funds were properly disbursed.

“Without adequate controls from developing countries, developed countries might use the funds for their own interests,” she added.

Indonesia has the potential to become one of the seven board members representing developing nations due to its significant progress in reducing emissions.

Liana said Indonesia had shown its commitment to reduce greenhouse gases through, for example, the nation’s implementation of the Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) plus program.

The funds for the $1 billion deforestation program would likely be disbursed by the program granter, the government of Norway, once a moratorium on new permits for primary forests and peatlands development was implemented.

The government will temporary halt the issuance of new conversion permits to maintain the sustainability of Indonesia’s forest and peatlands.

The moratorium on new permits will be in effect for two years, starting from 2011 until the end of 2012.

Norway is expected to provide $200 million before 2012 in the project’s three first phases. The remaining $800 million will be provided gradually after 2013 based on emission reductions from the forestry sector.

The head of Indonesia’s Cancun delegation, Rachmat Witoelar, said the nation should also formulate a more solid position on its commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas production. Indonesia previously said it would reduce emissions by 26 percent by 2020, and, if assisted by foreign support, by 41 percent.(ebf)