"We laud those, who participate in green energy and climate in Indonesia, especially those directly involved in creating an environmentally friendly and sustainable tourism industry to build an innovative business and accelerate energy transition in Indonesia that boosts the economy and environmental awareness," Uno noted in his virtual speech in Jakarta on Thursday.
He later remarked that based on the Nature Climate Change research in 2018, the carbon footprint of the global-scale tourism industry contributed eight percent of the world's carbon emissions.
Some of the main emission sources in the tourism industry include energy from transportation, hotels, tourist attractions, food and beverage consumption, to waste generated from travel activities.
"Moreover, most travel activities to these tourist destinations still use fossil fuels and contribute to carbon emissions," Uno stated.
He affirmed that his ministry had in place several programs as a form of commitment to realizing environmentally friendly and sustainable tourism. One of the latest programs from the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy was the Carbon Footprint Calculator (CFPC).
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The minister noted that the CFPC is considered to become Indonesia's concrete evidence in achieving the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) target in climate commitment and action in 2030 by reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 29 percent with domestic capabilities and 41 percent through international support.
In addition, the agenda is expected to achieve the target of Net-Zero Emissions (NZE) in 2060.
The CFPC program is an effort to absorb the carbon footprint produced by the tourism industry to help prevent its dire impact on the climate, Uno stated.
The carbon calculator will compute how much carbon emissions are generated from the activities of a tourist from and to a particular tourist destination.
"The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy started this program with the spirit of adaptation, innovation, and collaboration to bring benefits for many sectors," he concluded.
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Translator: Arnidhya Nur Z, Resinta S
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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