By: Made Prawira )*
Various world parliaments have officially convened in Bali from 21-24 March 2022. This was carried out after President Joko Widodo opened the 144th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Session on 20 March 2022 which was held lively.
The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) was opened with enthusiasm from more than 1,000 delegates in attendance. This event was opened by Ir. Joko Widodo as the President of the Republic of Indonesia. In the opening ceremony of the IPU session, the President pressed the button to mark the official start of the 144th IPU session and gave a speech afterwards.
The opening ceremony was not only filled with remarks from the President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo, President of IPU Duarte Pacheco and Chair of the Indonesian Parliament Puan Maharai, but the chairman of the United Nations (UN) Antonio Guteres also had the opportunity to give a speech.
This year, the IPU session focused on climate issues, gender equality, youth in politics, and the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine. On the occasion of his remarks, Jokowi hoped that the parliaments of IPU members together with the governments of their respective countries could assist in mobilizing to realize real and concrete actions in overcoming climate change.
Jokowi said “I really appreciate it if all the parliaments of IPU member countries can mobilize together with their governments so that a decision emerges, a truly real and concrete action emerges.”
He said that the world could face dire things if various parties did not dare to mobilize policies in parliament and in government to tackle climate change.
The former Mayor of Surakarta assessed that the issue of climate change is often a topic of discussion on various global agendas. However, there has been no visible field action or concrete action to realize the policy in overcoming climate change.
He gave an example of one of the policies to overcome climate change, namely by implementing an energy transition that shifts the use of energy sources from fossil to new and renewable sources.
The energy transition policy, according to Jokowi, looks easy but difficult to implement, especially for developing countries. So what needs to be discussed and mobilized is climate finance.
President Jokowi also hopes that investment in the provision of new and renewable energy and technology transfer can be realized in a concrete form. Because if it is not done in real terms, Jokowi is pessimistic that climate change will really be unavoidable.
Jokowi also said that Indonesia has abundant renewable energy sources. These sources include water energy or hydropower from 4,400 rivers. Indonesia also has geothermal or geothermal energy sources of up to 29,000 megawatts.
To realize the energy transition with renewable energy sources, according to the President, Indonesia requires a large investment. The remarks from President Jokowi show that the President wants the IPU to be concerned with climate change. To demonstrate their commitment to mitigating the impacts of climate change, each delegate attending the IPU will plant one tree each on the island of Bali.
IPU President Duarte Pacheco considered that the joint action to plant trees was a reflection of the basic values of holding the parliamentary meeting. The trees to be planted are also interpreted as a reminder that an international event was held in Bali based on a shared awareness of the importance of saving the earth as a common home.
On the occasion of tree planting, DPR RI Speaker Puan Maharani together with IPU President Duarte Pacheco and IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong planted longan trees in the BICC Nusa Dua yard, Bali.
The planting of longan trees is a form of IPU’s commitment to climate change mitigation in accordance with the theme in the 14th IPU, namely ‘Getting to Zero: Mobilizing Parliament to Act on Climate Change’.
We need to know that the issue of climate change and the environment cannot be separated from the issue of sustainable development goals (SDGs). This means that there needs to be a balance between protecting nature and creating development.
Previously, the government has also launched various instruments for financing climate change. One of the ways to do this is by issuing global bonds, the funds being disbursed for environmentally friendly projects.
The opening of the 144th IPU Session in Nusa Dua, Bali went lively, besides that this opening also showed the world that Indonesia was serious in dealing with issues related to climate change.
)* The author is a contributor to Pertiwi Institute
