Adianto P Simamora, Bogor – A coalition of local and international environmental activists has warned that efforts made by developing countries to combat climate change will be hampered if they dig into natural resources to repay massive foreign debts.
The coalition spokeswoman, Farah Sofa, said rich countries should cancel these debts before involving developing countries in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
"There is a need to resolve odious debts in developing countries." the coalition said, in a statement read at a ministerial meeting on climate change at the Bogor Presidential Palace on Wednesday "The repayment of debts of developing countries has for a long time been made at the expense of natural resources, leaving communities vulnerable to the impacts of climate change."
The organizer of the Bogor meeting gave only seven minutes for the coalition to read its statement during a dinner session.
The coalition members include Walhi Indonesia, the Indonesian Biodiversity Foundation (Kehati), the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law, Forest Watch Indonesia, the Indonesian Institute of Energy Economics, Greenpeace South East Asia, World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF) and Friends of the Earth Indonesia.
The coalition also called on rich countries to promote green lifestyles with concrete actions such as reducing the consumption of energy to save natural resources.
"We can't afford to maintain a position where the lifestyles of the rich are not up for negotiation," Farah, also deputy director of Walhi, said. "We must live simply so that others may simply live."
In terms of technology transfer, the activists also expressed concern over the use of nuclear energy, genetically modified trees and bio-fuels, saying they would endanger the environment. "We consider these not to be ways to combat global warming," she said.
Many countries, including Indonesia, plan to introduce nuclear power plants to meet rising energy demands.
The Kyoto Protocol requires developed countries transfer eco-friendly technologies to help reduce emissions from, among others, the use of fossil-fuels and coal-fired power.
Fossil energy is still the worlds main source of power. Data from the government shows that emissions from the energy sector reached 293.3 million tons in 2005.
The coalition urged leaders to set up burden-sharing principles to avoid a climate change catastrophe. "For the post 2012-regime there must be an agreement on burden sharing principles between rich and developing countries," it said.
Signatories from 196 countries would meet in Bali in December to discuss concepts for new commitments to take effect when the Kyoto Protocol expires.