By: Ahsan Zoelva *)
Friday, 22nd of April 2016, will be remembered as a historic day for the world in its attempt to fight against climate change. On that day, no less than 171 countries signed the Treaty of Paris on Climate Change. The agreement, listed the steps that must be undertaken by all countries, both developed and developing countries, in order to keep climate resilience. There are number of targets that being outlined in the Treaty of Paris, and one them is hold the global temperature increase below 2 ° C.
Indonesia became one of those 171 countries that signed the Treaty of Paris. Represented by the Minister of Environment and Forests Siti Nurbaya, the Indonesian delegation reiterated Indonesia’s commitment to have more active participation in maintaining the climate resilience. The affirmation of this commitment also received appreciation from delegates from other countries. The international community realized, Indonesia holds a vital role in the fight against the climate change.
International community’s expectation towards Indonesia is reasonable. With forest area that reaches 65% from the total land, Indonesia will have such an important role to keep the climate resilience. The world’s expectation towards Indonesia was responded positively by the Indonesian delegation. In the presence of the delegates of other countries, Mrs. Siti Nurbaya presented a number of steps that have been, are, and will be conducted by Indonesia in order to succeed the content of the Treaty of Paris. Such measures, one of them is Indonesia has established the Agency for Restoration of Peat in February 2016, as the fast pace of Indonesia’s respond in the aftermath of forest fires in 2015. In addition, Indonesia also continue the moratorium on the licensing of primary forests and peatlands policy.
Mrs. Siti also asserted that Indonesian government has involved all components of society such as the private sector, colleges, local governments, and various community groups to participate in the fight against climate change that includes aspects of mitigation and adaptation. One of them is, the declaration of a national program called PROKLIM (program kampung iklim). With those efforts, Indonesian government hopes to encourage other countries, especially developed countries, to show leadership in the fight against the climate change.
The Treaty of Paris that be boosted by the commitment of Indonesian Government should be used as the initial momentum for Indonesia to combat the global climate change. However, those efforts is not only the responsibility of the government alone. The entire society needs to participate actively in order to fight against climate change can run optimally. Those active participation, for example people should keep the cleanliness of the environmet by not littering. In addition, the society also need to continue to participate in the government’s programs related to the environment. For example, the program that ask people to not using the plastic bags in shopping. When people consistently support government programs related to environmental sustainability, the dream of Indonesia and other countries to hold the global temperature increase below 2 ° C will be achieved.