Indonesia criticises the 'unfair' deforestation agreement

[ASEAN NOW Content Team]

 

Indonesia has slammed the terms of a worldwide agreement to eliminate deforestation by 2030, implying that it may not follow through.

Environment Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar stated that the government cannot "promise what it cannot deliver."

She said it was "obviously wrong and unfair" to force Indonesia to commit to zero deforestation by 2030.

Despite signing the forest agreement, President Joko Widodo stated that development remained Indonesia's top goal.

 

The agreement, reached by more than 100 world leaders, was unveiled during the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow on Monday.
It was the first major announcement of the event.

It aims to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030, with almost £14 billion ($19.2 billion) in public and private money.

Ms Nurbaya stated in a Facebook post (in Indonesian) that the country's vast natural resources should be exploited to serve its people.

She noted the necessity to clear trees to make place for new roads as an example.

"The great progress of President Jokowi's era must not be halted in the name of carbon emissions or deforestation," she said, using Mr Widodo's nickname.

 

"Indonesia's natural resources, including forests, must be managed for its use in accordance with sustainable principles, in addition to being equitable," she stated.

Experts praised the pact, but cautioned that a prior accord in 2014 "failed to halt deforestation at all," and that promises must be kept.

Cutting down trees contributes to climate change by depleting forests, which absorb a large quantity of CO2.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's Deputy Foreign Minister Mahendra Siregar claimed it was "wrong and deceptive" to call the agreement a "zero-deforestation guarantee."

 

Despite a significant slowdown in deforestation in recent years, Indonesia's enormous forests are still diminishing.

In 2001, the country possessed roughly 94 million hectares of primary forest, which is defined as tropical forest that has not been totally destroyed and regrown in recent history, according to the Global Forest Watch monitoring website.

By 2020, that area has reduced by at least 10%.