On Wednesday 31 October, we have three remarkable representatives from Indonesian NGOs visiting Mundo-B: Ranti (Walhi - Friends of the Earth Indonesia), Ime (Institute for Essential Services Reform - IESR)) and Torry (Pikul). They have been invited to Belgium by 11.11.11 to support their campaign on climate, but have made time to give some interesting presentations at Mundo-B.
The NGO representatives will give presentations on the following topics, after which there will time for discussion and exchange:
- · A paper published this week in Nature Climate Change confirms that the expansion of oil palm plantations in Indonesia has come at the expense of the country’s forests. Between 1990 and 2010, 90 per cent of oil palm plantations in Kalimantan were established on forested land.
- · Indonesia is a resource rich country. The mining sector has been expanding rapidly in the last ten years. The country supplies 40 per cent of the world’s tin, is a major coal exporter, a top nickel exporter and is among the top gold producers. Indonesia’s dependence on the mining sector has been causing problems for local peoples living around the mining areas, environmental problems (deforestation, biodiversity loss) and the climate.
- · Indonesia currently has an economic growth rate of 6%. This fuels the need for energy at a time when energy poverty is still quite high, especially in rural areas. In 2009, the president committed to reduce Indonesia’s greenhouse gas emissions by 26% by 2020. Can Indonesia realise this commitment, what policies have been put in place?
So please come to The Fair Trade Room (in Mundo B, Rue d’Edimbourg 26, 1050 Brussels) on 31 October (Halloween) from 12.00 until 14.00 and bring your own sandwich.
Please let us know if you would like to join (veerle@fern.org)
See you there!
Presenters:
Ime has worked for IESR since 2009 and is responsible for the program on energy and climate. For five years she has followed international climate negotiations from an energy perspective. This is a major challenge for Indonesia, where 40% of the population has no direct access to power.
Torry is an expert on natural resources and rights of local peoples, mainly in relation to extractive industries. He worked for Walhi from 2005 until 2008 as campaigner on mining, energy and climate change and coordinated the biofuels campaign for Friends of the Earth. He is now working for Pikul on strengthening leadership and common actions for sovereignty over water, food and energy.
Ranti has worked for Walhi since 2008 where she had a diverse range of tasks including strengthening the organisation’s management capacity. She uses her expertise on finance to support Walhi’s work on climate justice and climate finance.
Bron ; Wiebe Eekman