VZCZCXRO1429
RR RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #0635 0971031
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 071031Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2068
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS COLL
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1029
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS JAKARTA 000635 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP, OES 
COMMERCE FOR NOAA 
NSC FOR HAROLD VARMUS AND CEQ 
 
E.O. 12598: N/A 
TAGS: SENV KGHG ENRG TBIO TSPL PREL ID
SUBJECT: U.S.-Indonesia: Potential Partners on Climate Change 
Adaptation 
 
¶1.  During an April 6 meeting with Ambassador Hume, Dr. Emil Salim, 
Indonesia's elder environmental statesman, urged that the United 
States and Indonesia strive for an agreement on climate change 
adaptation -- during Obama's potential November visit to Indonesia. 
This bilateral cooperation could lead to broader consensus on 
adaptation during the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate 
Change (UNFCCC) negotiations in Copenhagen this December.  President 
Yudhoyono's and President Obama's commitment to the environment 
offers an opportunity for environmental cooperation bilaterally as 
well as in the global arena. 
 
¶2.  Indonesia, as a tropical and archipelagic country, is especially 
vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, Salim stressed. 
Jakarta is therefore concerned that discussions about a long-term 
global goal and actions on mitigation have dominated UNFCCC talks, 
while adaptation has been relatively neglected.  Dr. Salim, 
Environmental Advisor to President Yudhoyono, believes that 
Indonesia and the United States have a shared interest in 
re-focusing attention on climate change adaptation. 
 
¶3.  Adaptation is a key theme of the upcoming World Ocean Conference 
(WOC) and Coral Triangle Initiative Summit in Manado, Salim pointed 
out.  (He also recalled Secretary Clinton's promise to send a 
high-level delegation to the WOC).  Salim noted that adaptation is 
intimately connected to tropical disease, food security, and natural 
disaster management -- issues to which the lens of climate change 
can bring renewed focus.  Scientific research and technology 
transfer are essential for countries to adapt to climate change. 
And they are also essential for successful mitigation actions and 
transitioning to a low-carbon economy. 
 
¶4.  Salim emphasized that cooperation on adaptation could be a 
significant component of the overall science and technology 
cooperation that the U.S. and Indonesia are seeking to reinvigorate 
and expand.  Cooperation on adaptation is an important part of a 
comprehensive bilateral S&T Agreement which would greatly expand 
cooperation in other key areas including health and education.  He 
emphatically agreed with Ambassador Hume that education is the most 
important component of the new U.S.-Indonesia comprehensive 
partnership.  Science and technology cooperation, and its 
educational foundation, is a long-term endeavor that requires a 
strong, long-term partnership between the United States and 
Indonesia. 
 
HUME