Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia's environment sector has evolved in terms of efforts made to prevent climate change, including the successful reduction of forest and land fires, Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar has said.

"We were experiencing a difficult time in 2015, with 2.6 hectares of forest fires, including in peatlands," she noted during the Climate Leaders' Message virtual event, observed from here on Thursday.

"However, looking at the data now, there are advancements not just in the (lowering of) forest fires, there are also tree plantations, partnerships on conservation, and various creations," she said.

These creations in the environment sector reflect the efforts made to recover the environment and forests in Indonesia, she argued.

She also highlighted several initiatives that have been launched to preserve the environment that will ultimately affect climate change, such as the People Care of Fire and Village Care of Peatland.

The other concrete step that Indonesia has carried out is ratifying the Paris Agreement through Law No. 16 of 2016 on the Paris Agreement over the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, she pointed out.

It can be inferred that there has been an evolution, a gradual change, happening through these events and this has become very important, the minister remarked.

During the upcoming 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), Indonesia will reassert its commitment and ambition to reach the target of preventing global warming up to 1.5 degrees Celsius, Bakar said.

The COP26 event, which will be hosted in Glasgow, Scotland, from October 31 to November 12, 2021, is expected to expedite action to fulfill the goal of the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), she added.

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Translator: Prisca Triferna, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Suharto
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