The government plans to take environmental issues mainstream, setting aside Rp 2 trillion (about US$217 million) from the state budget to improve public awareness and cooperation in dealing with the impacts of climate change, writes Dianto P. Simamora,  The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Headlines, Mon, 18/8/2008 at http://www.thejakartapost.com.
Forwarded by Budhi Mulyawan 190808. 

The proposed 2009 budget for climate change mitigation and adaptation programs will be about five times the Rp 391 billion earmarked for the State Ministry of the Environment.

"I am very happy and feel honored by the government's appreciation shown by allocating a special budget for climate change mitigation and adaptation," State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.

He said the funds would go to the National Climate Change Council before being distributed to related agencies in both Jakarta and regional areas.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono chairs the council. Rachmat, acting in a personal capacity, is executive chairman. Sixteen Cabinet ministers are members of the council.

The main tasks of the National Climate Change Council are to formulate national policies, strategies and projects to deal with climate change, and to strengthen Indonesia's position in lobbying wealthy nations to take responsibility for controlling climate change.

According to the draft 2009 state budget presented by the President to the House of Representatives on Friday, funding for climate change must be generated from new sources, rather than by cutting the budgets of related ministries or agencies.

Before the council was established, the environment ministry was responsible for dealing with climate change issues. In the 2008 budget, the government allocated Rp 534 billion to the ministry.

The draft state budget called on the private sector to take an active role in combating the severe impacts of climate change through public-private partnerships and corporate social responsibility programs.

"The government as facilitator will give support and stimuli in terms of financial regulations and fiscal and non-fiscal facilities," the draft budget said.

The draft included mitigation and adaptation among the government's top priorities for improving national living standards.

Rachmat, the current president of the United Nations Conference of Parties (COP) on climate change, expressed optimism the council could raise large amounts of financial aid from the international community to help Indonesia with its climate change mitigation and adaptation programs.

Meanwhile, Arief Wicaksana, political adviser for Greenpeace, said the allocation of a special budget for climate change could help Indonesia deal with the impacts of global warming.

"It could give teeth to the climate change council to carry out its job," he said.

According to experts, climate change is triggering rising sea levels, higher temperatures and extreme changes to weather patterns that could shift agricultural planting seasons.

Indonesia, as the country with the second longest amount of coastline, is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, the government has said. 

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