"It is time for people to think in new imaginative ways to resolve the monumental challenges today and tomorrow."
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said here Thursday that despite the long time spent and enormous efforts made by the international community to forge a common stance on dealing with climate change, a global climate treaty has remained an elusive objective.

"This is why, your meeting here is so important to show that the climate change issue is very much alive and that, despite tough economic challenges and problems in the Middle-East, we continue to press on to find common solutions to global problems," the President said in his address to a forum of the Business for the Environment (B4E) Global Summit 2011.

Opened by Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta, the forum is attended by Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator, Kemal Stamboel, chairman of the Executive Board WWF Indonesia, Andrew Steer, the World Bank`s Special Envoy for Climate Change and hundreds of businessmen.

Praising the gathering`s theme "Leading by Nature: Delivering Transformative Solutions for Our Planet" as an apt one, President Yudhoyono said it was time for all "to think outside the box."

"It is time for people to think in new imaginative ways to resolve the monumental challenges today and tomorrow," he said.

He noted that even though globalization is said to promise a world of plenty, what actually is being faced is a world of increasing scarcity. "It is predicted that by 2050, the world population will reach 9 billion. The human race will need plenty of clean air, food, energy, water, and other resources," he said.

However, he said, according to some estimates, by 2050 the world`s energy resources would be short by 40 percent and food supply by 60 percent. Today, the world continued to be addicted to oil, while non-fossil fuel energy sources were still struggling to catch up, he added.

The number of regions that were burdened by a condition of water stress was multiplying. The greenhouse gas emissions also continued to rise towards a dangerous tipping point without waiting for diplomatic solutions.

This growing scarcity is bound to produce stressful communities. According to the World Food Program, there are 925 million undernourished people in the world today. That means one in seven people do not get enough nutrition to be healthy and lead a productive life.

"We need solutions that will make economic growth and technology not the nemesis but the ally of our climate stability. And we need solutions that will serve the practical needs to slow, stop and reverse the process of climate change," he said.

At the global level, Indonesia has spearheaded greater cooperation to conserve and manage forests sustainability through the Forest Eleven Forum. This F-11 was established to ensure that forestry countries can collectively be part of the global climate solutions while also attending to their rightful economic and social development needs.

Indonesia is also actively pursuing bilateral forestry cooperation and Indonesia has promoted creative forestry partnerships with Norway, the Republic of Korea, Australia, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, United States and other countries.

These programs will add values to the current Sumatra landscapes program financed by a Debt for Nature Swap scheme. "We invite all of you to join our endeavor in preserving and expanding these crucial carbon sinks and high biological diversity areas," the president said.
(T.KR-VFT/HAJM/A014)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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