VZCZCXRO4083
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #2139 2192355
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 072355Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5688
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0637
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 4184
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0973
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 4117
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS JAKARTA 002139 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MTS AND EB/IFD/ODF 
NSC FOR CEQ CONNAUGHTON, VAN DYKE 
TREASURY FOR TFCA - BERG 
DEPARTMENT FOR OES/IET and OES/ETC 
 
E.O. 12598: N/A 
TAGS: SENV EAID ECON TBIO ENRG ID
SUBJECT: VISIT OF OES A/S MCMURRAY TO INDONESIA, CLIMATE CHANGE AND 
COP-13 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary.  In a visit to Indonesia July 26-29, OES A/S 
McMurray and several Indonesian officials discussed climate change 
policy and the upcoming United Nations Framework Convention on 
Climate Change 13th Conference of Parties (UNFCCC COP-13) meeting in 
Bali December 3-14.  Dr. Emil Salim, President Yudhoyono's chief 
environmental advisor, urged strong USG participation at COP-13 and 
leadership on climate change.  Officials at the Ministry of Forestry 
and the Environment expressed interest in carbon trading incentives 
to help preserve Indonesia's forests and would like to work closely 
with the USG on this issue before COP-13.  End Summary. 
 
Climate Change Challenges: U.S. Message 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) A/S McMurray's message was that climate change challenges 
need buy-in from all countries, especially from the largest 
economies, energy users and emitters.  Large, growing economies like 
India and China also need to show up at the table: the UN system has 
not yet brought them in adequately.  Real technology exists now for 
China to have cleaner manufacturing and processing.  Ambassador Hume 
noted that the population of the U.S. has doubled in his lifetime, 
while many European populations have been stagnant or only growing 
through immigration, which needed to factor into deliberation of 
greenhouse gas emissions performance.  A/S McMurray noted that 
President Bush recognizes that different countries cannot all meet 
national commitments in the same way.  The U.S. has a demonstrated 
track record at developing clean energy technologies to solve 
problems.  She also noted that the U.S. supports an Australian 
proposal for a discussion at September's APEC meeting on climate 
change. 
 
GOI Points 
---------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) At the meeting with Ministry of Forestry (MOF) and Ministry 
of Environment (MOE) officials, Dr. Rusli noted that the MOF is very 
interested in carbon markets as a tool for forest conservation. 
Agus Purnomo from MOE commented that financial incentives in the 
carbon market to conserve Indonesia's forests are currently too low, 
at roughly $3 per hectare, and that US leadership on this issue is 
necessary leading up to COP-13.  He suggested that it would be more 
pragmatic for the U.S. and Indonesia to work together on pilot 
activities on this front before December to show that such 
instruments are workable, rather than getting bogged down in 
scientific and technical details about how to monitor Indonesia's 
forests and carbon emissions.  He stated that MOF and MOE are 
working on this issue and may have some proposals to offer by 
October.  At a working dinner, McMurray recommended that COP-13 
organizers look for issues that are ripe for agreement such as 
forest conservation.  Dr. Emil Salim said that most countries are in 
the shadow of the U.S. in terms of wealth, power and technology: the 
world will follow the U.S. lead. 
 
Dr. Emil Salim - Islands Sinking 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) At the working dinner, Dr. Emil Salim, President Yudhoyono's 
chief environmental advisor, said that Indonesia could lose 2000 
islands to rising seas by 2020.  A representative of the Center for 
International Forestry Research (CIFOR) noted that many actions can 
be taken without major up front costs -- "no regret"-- mitigation 
and adaptation policies that Indonesia and the international 
community can pursue simultaneously.  Indonesia has a massive 
resource in its peat swamp forests, which are being lost to draining 
and burning.  Preserving these will help.  The World Bank 
representative noted that the Bank is looking at how the costs of 
climate risks and "climate proofing" will be borne. 
 
HUME