POLICY
JAKARTA (FORESTHINTS.NEWS) - Indonesia has notched up two remarkable and undeniable victories thanks to its climate actions. Firstly, it has emitted less compared to before the pandemic. Secondly, for the third year running, the country has been proven not to be one of the biggest contributors of emissions from forest and land fires.
According to the European Commission's JRC Science for Policy Report titled "CO2 emissions of all world countries", Indonesia is among the countries that emitted less in 2021 than in 2019. In other words, Indonesia had lower emissions during the global pandemic than in the pre-pandemic period.
This contrasts sharply with various other countries which emitted more in 2021 than they did in 2019, prior to the pandemic's onset.
If Indonesia's pandemic era emissions had exceeded those before the pandemic, the narrative would likely sought to have cornered Indonesia on the issue with various parties taking aim at the country ceaselessly.
Similarly, albeit in reverse, the huge importance of Indonesia's extraordinary feat of bringing down its emissions during the pandemic is unlikely to be recognized as crucial for the global climate, and instead probably just shrugged off as nothing out of the ordinary.
Ongoing climate success
Indonesia has successfully managed to prevent any substantial haze-causing fires over the three years of the pandemic (2020-2022).
During this time, emissions caused by wildfires raging in other regions have been at an extremely worrying level, with this year being no exception.
Last year, in the months of July and August, the highest-ever levels of global carbon emissions due to wildfires were recorded. However, according to the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) - the European Union's Earth Observation Programme, Indonesia was not among the major contributors to these unprecedented emissions levels, as reported by FORESTHINTS.NEWS in late September last year.
Instead, it was the Mediterranean countries, Russian Siberia and North America (US and Canada) which were the biggest emissions contributors owing to the widespread wildfires in those regions.
Meanwhile, in early September this year, the CAMS EQA report revealed that Europe's summer wildfire emissions were at their highest level for 15 years, while the Amazon’s fire emissions were at a 10-year high, and there was also significant fire activity in Alaska, with 1.26 million hectares burnt as of August 25, the highest total since 2015 and seventh highest since 1950.
The dual win of a pandemic-period emissions reduction and third successive year of comparatively few fire emissions underscores Indonesia’s significant efforts in fighting the global climate crisis.
Indonesia's year-on-year successes reflect the example set by the country's President Joko Widodo and its Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya, both of whom unfailingly deliver in the climate change arena by ensuring that, when it comes to climate actions, Indonesia avoids merely making pledges and always leads by example..
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POLICY
JAKARTA (FORESTHINTS.NEWS) - Indonesia has notched up two remarkable and undeniable victories thanks to its climate actions. Firstly, it has emitted less compared to before the pandemic. Secondly, for the third year running, the country has been proven not to be one of the biggest contributors of emissions from forest and land fires.
According to the European Commission's JRC Science for Policy Report titled "CO2 emissions of all world countries", Indonesia is among the countries that emitted less in 2021 than in 2019. In other words, Indonesia had lower emissions during the global pandemic than in the pre-pandemic period.
This contrasts sharply with various other countries which emitted more in 2021 than they did in 2019, prior to the pandemic's onset.
If Indonesia's pandemic era emissions had exceeded those before the pandemic, the narrative would likely sought to have cornered Indonesia on the issue with various parties taking aim at the country ceaselessly.
Similarly, albeit in reverse, the huge importance of Indonesia's extraordinary feat of bringing down its emissions during the pandemic is unlikely to be recognized as crucial for the global climate, and instead probably just shrugged off as nothing out of the ordinary.
Ongoing climate success
Indonesia has successfully managed to prevent any substantial haze-causing fires over the three years of the pandemic (2020-2022).
During this time, emissions caused by wildfires raging in other regions have been at an extremely worrying level, with this year being no exception.
Last year, in the months of July and August, the highest-ever levels of global carbon emissions due to wildfires were recorded. However, according to the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) - the European Union's Earth Observation Programme, Indonesia was not among the major contributors to these unprecedented emissions levels, as reported by FORESTHINTS.NEWS in late September last year.
Instead, it was the Mediterranean countries, Russian Siberia and North America (US and Canada) which were the biggest emissions contributors owing to the widespread wildfires in those regions.
Meanwhile, in early September this year, the CAMS EQA report revealed that Europe's summer wildfire emissions were at their highest level for 15 years, while the Amazon’s fire emissions were at a 10-year high, and there was also significant fire activity in Alaska, with 1.26 million hectares burnt as of August 25, the highest total since 2015 and seventh highest since 1950.
The dual win of a pandemic-period emissions reduction and third successive year of comparatively few fire emissions underscores Indonesia’s significant efforts in fighting the global climate crisis.
Indonesia's year-on-year successes reflect the example set by the country's President Joko Widodo and its Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya, both of whom unfailingly deliver in the climate change arena by ensuring that, when it comes to climate actions, Indonesia avoids merely making pledges and always leads by example.
RELATED STORIES
