World Bank urged to follow Bali roadmap

Jakarta Post (Indonesia): Indonesian environmental guru Emil Salim has questioned a new World Bank climate change strategy, saying it should back the Bali climate roadmap rather than starting a new fund of its own. He said differences over climate change implementation strategies reflected market and policy contradictions arising when polluting countries were environmental service providers, while the bank itself was too linked to fossil fuel projects.

"The World Bank executive board previously rejected a proposal to move away from funding fossil fuel projects and to push for renewable energy development," said Emil, who is environmental adviser to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Emil said this policy resulted in the main providers of climate change services and products also being the main contributors to increased emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2).

He was speaking in a World Bank consultative forum on Wednesday. The forum invited Indonesian stakeholders to comment on the bank's draft strategy paper on climate change and development.

…"Please support the results of the Bali meeting. Why should you create your own new fund to compete with the agreed adaptation fund? Why doesn't the World Bank simply support the agreed adaptation fund?" he said. "The bank should also support technology transfer so we (developing nations) can access new technology more easily."

…The Bank's Indonesia country director, Joahim von Amsberg, said the new framework would help Indonesia cope with climate change threats. "The proposed framework would facilitate developing countries like Indonesia to cope with looming climate change threats -- rising sea levels, changing weather patterns and increased uncertainties -- also facilitating carbon credit opportunities and access to new sources of global financing," he said. The bank's draft paper put Indonesia as one of the highest risk countries in the world for negative impacts from climate change….

Pinisi Freighters in the port of Taopere in Makassar (Ujung Pandang) Photo taken iy Marc Obrowski (marc.44@freenet.de), Wikimedia Commons