United States to attend climate conference in Bali

Denpasar, Bali (ANTARA News) - The United States government has changed its mind and decided to send a delegation to the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Bali in December 2007.

"We should thank God for the American decision which would hopefully support the conference to be attended by 10,000 delegates," State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar said in Kuta, Bali on Thursday.

He made the remarks in an annual national meeting of the Public Relations Coordinating Agency (Bakohumas) attended by hundreds of participants, and opened by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono later in the afternoon.

It was reported that the United States and Australia and some other major countries in Asia, in the beginning did not approve of the Kyoto Protocol which among other things required the advanced countries to lower their emission by an average of five percent under the 1990 level.

And the decision of the United States government to attend the meeting in Bali which was marked with various activities in the superpower country of controlling global warming and climate changes, means that a substantial progress had been made.

"The US participation in the climate change conference, would have a significant impact on efforts of persuading many industrialized countries to take part in the control of global warming and climate change," Rachmat Witoelar said.

He hoped Australia and some big countries in Asia would follow the US example so that efforts to safe the earth from the comprehensive threats of global warming and climate change would hopefully produce earlier results.

In the meantime, secretary general of the State Minister for the Environment Arief Yuwono and one of the conference organizers Agus S who were also flanking the Environment Minister, said that the impacts of global warming and climate change include the possibility of the submersion of small islands and coastal areas as the result of a rise in the surface of the sea caused by the melting of the icy poles as temperature rose drastically.

In the meantime, the global warming and climate change caused by the green house effect and damage of forests and nature in various parts of the world, may also cause the development of various diseases like malaria and dengue fever.

Human life on earth has become increasingly threatened caused among other things by global warming which is taking place faster than estimated. Now a number of threats are facing us, unless responded to appropriately.

For these reasons, on the occasion of the climate change conference, deforested areas in many parts of the country are being reforested by the planting of 79 million trees.

The environment minister has also called on the people in their areas in Indonesia to follow suit.


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