"We are not a carbon emitter but a carbon absorber thanks to the vast area of our forests, not to mention our sea," Head of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Dr Sri Woro said at a workshop on the impact of sea surface rise on Indonesia`s coastal environment here on Wednesday.
Also present at the workshop was Research and Technology Minister Suharna Surapranata.
Under the Kyoto Protocol, Sri Woro said Indonesia was a non-annex 1 country which deserved to receive compensation from greenhouse gas emitting countries listed in annex 1. The annex 1 consists of 41 developed countries listed as carbon dioxide emitters.
The target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 26 percent in 2020 would cause the growth of the Indonesian economy to contract according to experts that had calculated the capacity of the Indonesian forestry sector, he said.
He alleged that the government came under pressure from certain quarters at global level when it set itself the high target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 26 percent in 2020.
"They claimed that Indonesia was the world`s third largest emitter after China and the United States. Unfortunately, they based their claim on data in 1997 when large forest fires induced by El Nino happened in Indonesia," he said.
He said the claim was not fair because it was based on forest fires in 1997 rather than average annual forest fires in the country.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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