Business, government meeting ends in emissions reductions commitment
Posted on April, 29 2011
The Business 4 Environment (B4E) Summit closed today in Jakarta with the release of the B4E 2011 Business Declaration supporting Indonesia’s commitment to reduce emissions by between 26 percent and 41 percent by 2020.
Jakarta, Indonesia - The Business 4 Environment (B4E) Summit closed today in Jakarta with the release of the B4E 2011 Business Declaration supporting Indonesia’s commitment to reduce emissions by between 26 percent and 41 percent by 2020.This Declaration has been developed as a pledge from the Indonesian business community to support President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Government of Indonesia to reduce emissions by a minimum of 26 percent by 2020, against a targeted 7% economic growth.
“Governments cannot do the efforts alone,” said Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in a keynote address on Thursday. “As all of us move towards low-carbon development, we will need the greater participation of civil society and business leaders as our partners to realize a robust green economy,” he continued.
The President also highlighted Indonesia’s commitment to allocate the expansion of plantations and other economic activities to already degraded - or low carbon- areas.
“WWF is very pleased with the bold commitment by the Indonesian President. This is a foundation for all business players to synergize with relevant stakeholders to reach the target of 26 to 41 percent emissions reduction, as laid out in 2009 at the G20 meeting in Pittsburg,” said Dr. Efransjah, CEO of WWF-Indonesia.
The summit’s nearly 700 representatives from business, governments and NGOs were included in the declaration, delivered by H.E Hatta Rajasa Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister of the Economy.
A key component of the Declaration is an agreement to support Zero Net Deforestation and Forest Degradation by 2020 (ZNDD), and at the same time phasing out of products coming from deforestation of ecologically important forests by 2020.
Based on the first chapter of WWF’s new Living Forests Report, which was released at the B4E summit on Wednesday, 27 April, more than 230 million hectares of forest will disappear by 2050 if no action is taken. The report proposes that policymakers and businesses unite around a goal of ZNDD by 2020 as a global benchmark to avoid dangerous climate change and curb biodiversity loss.
The Declaration is an encouraging sign that we are moving towards the kind of cross-sector collaboration that is crucial if we are going to halt forest loss and mitigate the damaging impacts of climate change,” Dr. Efransjah added.
The Declaration also included promises to reduce resource intensity with investments in energy and resource efficiency, support for areas of high biodiversity, investment in sustainable urban planning and better supply chain management.
“We will continue working to encourage forestry and plantation companies to use sustainable practices. Good governance and incentives will provide the certainty businesses need to operate successfully using existing degraded land,” said Rod Taylor, WWF International’s Director of Forests.
Business collaboration in the Heart of Borneo
The B4E Summit opened with the Heart of Borneo (HoB) Green Business Day, organized by WWF’s Heart of Borneo Initiative, providing an opportunity for open dialogue between key business leaders in the palm oil, forestry and mining sectors with operations on the island of Borneo.
Adam Tomasek, WWF’s HoB team leader, said the HoB Initiative was committed to using a multi-stakeholder process to achieve conservation and sustainable development across the 22 million hectares landscape.
“The HoB Green Business day represented this commitment and the productive dialogue that emerged with the key sectors, government and civil society helped deepen the understanding of challenges and opportunities of achieving sustainability.”
He said the event moved commitments forward in a number of ways, in particular with the announcement of the first pulp and paper participants to join GFTN Indonesia.