http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2009/05/20095147479845969.html
UPDATED ON:
Thursday, May 14, 2009
11:36 Mecca time, 08:36 GMT
Call to save 'dying oceans'
A minor rise in sea level could see most island nations under water
within this century [AFP]
Indonesia's president has called for a concerted move to save the world's
oceans from being destroyed by the effects of climate change, but made no
mention of his own country's failings in nature conservation.
In an address to the World Ocean Conference in the Indonesia city of
Manado on Thursday, Susilo Bambang Yudhyono called for a global effort to
"rescue the oceans" describing it as "a life and death issue for the community
of nations".
He said the world's oceans faced a raft of threats from over-fishing,
over-exploitation, the extinction of marine species, pollution, and the impact
of climate change causing sea temperatures and sea levels to rise.
"We must save them from the ravages of abuse and over-exploitation by
humankind, from the havoc due to pollution and dire effects of climate change,"
he said.
"Today it is time for the world to hear yet another important message:
that we can only survive the 21st century if we are united in caring for and
preserving our oceans."
Indonesia's failings
Pollution in Indonesia has reached
alarming levels [EPA]
Yudhoyono however avoided mentioning his own country's failings in
conserving its environment, ranging from rampant illegal logging to overfishing
and the destruction of coral reefs through the use of bombs.
Greenhouse gas emissions from extensive logging of Indonesia's tropical
forests have pushed the country to become the world's third-largest emitter
behind the US and China.
Illegal fishing and pollution are also widespread, with garbage and
diesel oil clogging the waters at Manado's harbour close to the conference
venue.
Scientists have warned that hundreds of millions of people will be at
risk unless drastic action is taken on climate change.
Hundreds of officials and experts from 70 countries are in Manado for the
conference, the first global meeting on the link between oceans and climate
change.
The five-day conference is being billed as a prelude to talks in December
in Copenhagen which is expected to adopt a new commitment on emission cuts to
replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.
Islands going under
Earlier this week envoys from several island states warned that the issue
of rising sea levels, which threatens to wipe whole nations off the map and
displace millions of people, was being overlooked in climate change talks.
Overfishing is just one of many threats facing the marine
environment [AFP]
The Pacific island states of Kiribati and Tuvalu face a serious risk by
even small rises in sea levels, while major cities and densely-populated
coastlines from Bangladesh to West Africa could go under this century, the
envoys said.
In 2007 the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicted that
up to 150 million people could be displaced by the effects of climate change by
2050, which include sea level rises of as much as 59 centimetres.
Representatives from island nations say major emitters are pushing for
greenhouse gas emissions cuts that are too low to prevent devastating sea rises.
The Alliance of Small Island States is pushing for cuts in greenhouse gas
emissions of 85 per cent by that deadline.
Rolph Payet, a presidential adviser from the African island nation of the
Seychelles, said the issue of what will happen to millions of people fleeing
rising waters and droughts, and how to resettle whole nations which could
vanish under the waves has been ignored.
"Dealing with environmental refugees will have a much more serious impact
on the global economy and global security in fact than what wars have ever done
to this planet," he said.
"We have been talking about war refugees, crisis refugees, but not
environmental refugees ... it is not an accepted UN word."
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