East Kalimantan Environmentally Sustainable Development Strategy

7
Preface
A broad global consensus has emerged that human activities are causing a rapid buildup of
carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere (from less than 300 parts
per million in pre-industrial times to 433 ppm in 2005), and that this buildup is causing a rise in
global average temperatures and impacting the climate. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) has estimated various scenarios of future emissions levels and the degree of future
climate change, which range from significant to catastrophic impact on people, economies, and
communities. While the global consensus recognizes the uncertainty over what scenario will
unfold, the risks are deemed great enough today to warrant concerted, coordinated global action
to mitigate climate change.
The global consensus has developed far faster than a global response. Of the many obstacles,
one has been the recognition that the developed world is responsible for the majority of historical
greenhouse gas emissions. This has led some developing countries to argue that developed
countries must first take full action to reduce their emissions before a global agreement including
developing countries is reached. However, even if all developed countries reduced their emissions
to 1990 levels (as targeted under the Kyoto Protocol), this would not be enough to avert serious
climate change. Developing nations now account for such large and growing emissions that they
too must take action today if climate change is to be mitigated.
Indonesia understands this impasse. It has decided to take action to break it and create new
momentum in the global negotiations for serious action to combat climate change. Under the
leadership of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesia has made several pioneering
contributions. First, Indonesia hosted the United Nations Framework Climate Change Convention
(UNFCCC) Conference of Parties (COP-13) in Bali in 2007. Then Indonesia organized and
participated in a series of high-level gatherings to address the issue of reducing GHG from the
land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF) sector, which is a major source of emissions in
developing countries but rarely in developed countries. Next, at the September 2009 G-20 summit
in Pittsburgh, President Yudhoyono voluntarily committed Indonesia to an ambitious roadmap for
reducing its carbon emissions by 26 percent by 2020, the first large developing country to make
such a commitment. Indonesia reaffirmed its commitment to the reduction target at the COP-15
round of negotiations in Copenhagen in December 2009 and is currently preparing a National
Action Plan on Climate Change, which will describe in detail how Indonesia will meet its 26 percent
commitment.
DRAFT
The traditional thinking is that reducing carbon emissions must come at the expense of economic
growth, with environmental financing and international assistance providing a form of welfare
payment to compensate local communities for these losses. This need not be the case. In fact,
the scheme to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) that was
mandated at the Bali Climate Change Conference two years ago can help move Indonesia onto a
more environmentally sustainable development growth path.
For a democratic and decentralized country such as Indonesia, the provincial and district-level
governments are at the heart of this challenge. The Provincial Government of East Kalimantan,
under the leadership of Governor Awang Faroek Ishak, and the National Council on Climate
Change (Dewan Nasional Perubahan Iklim, DNPI) have launched this Environmentally Sustainable
Development Strategy (Strategi Pembanguan Ramah Lingkuan) to chart a plan for the province.