Sunday, February 16, 2014

Climate change threatens Indonesians' way of life: Kerry

Arshad Mohammed in Reuters: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned Indonesians on Sunday that climate change could threaten their "entire way of life" as he called for all nations to do more to stop global warming.

Speaking to students, Kerry derided skeptics of the view that human activity causes global warming as "shoddy scientists" and "extreme ideologues" and he said big companies and special interests should not be allowed to "hijack" the climate debate.

Aides said the U.S. secretary of state had chosen Indonesia for the first of what is to be a series of speeches on the topic this year partly because as an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands it is particularly at risk from rising sea levels.

"Because of climate change, it's no secret that today Indonesia is...one of the most vulnerable countries on Earth," Kerry said in speech at a high-tech U.S.-funded cultural center at a Jakarta mall. "It's not an exaggeration to say that the entire way of life that you live and love is at risk," he added.

Kerry's public push takes place against the backdrop of a negotiation among nearly 200 nations about a possible new global treaty on climate change that is scheduled to be agreed next year and to address greenhouse gas emissions from 2020....

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