UN sanctions required to stop Indonesia logging: campaigners

SINGAPORE ~ Indonesia, currently third after China and USA in the CO2 emission league table, could become the world’s worst unless something is done to stem the country’s pursuit of wealth through logging and palm-oil cultivation.
Responding to the declaration by Californian governor Arnold Schwarzenegger last week that his state would send financial aid to keep [...]

Palm oil body accused of ignoring greenhouse gas emissions

JAKARTA ~ The body set up to certify “sustainable” palm-oil production in Malaysia and Indonesia is completely ignoring greenhouse gas emissions in its certification procedure, according to a report issued today.
In a damning statement, Wetlands International says that palm oil shipped to Europe by members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is far [...]

Indonesia poses "catastrophic threat" to world climate: Greenpeace

JAKARTA ~ The rapid expansion of oil palm plantations for profit in Indonesia is having a “catastrophic effect” on global climate, Greenpeace said yesterday.
The campaign group accused Indonesia of allowing “rampant destruction” of ancient forest, for palm oil, logging and other industry expansion.

Indonesia palm oil firms reject moratorium

Indonesia held the global record for carbon emissions due to deforestation, putting it third behind the United States and China in terms of total man-made emissions.

Europeans slash biofuel requirement

IN A further setback for the biofuel industry, members of the Environmental Committee of the European Parliament have voted to abandon their previous target of 10 percent biofuel by 2020.

At a recent meeting they decided that 4 percent biofuel would be quite enough. They also voted for stronger sustainability criteria aimed at making it more [...]

New ban may stem rampant forest destruction in Indonesia

JAKARTA ~ The Indonesian province of Riau has pledged to halt the destruction of its forests and peatlands, a move that will prevent billions of tonnes of carbon from entering the atmosphere, Greenpeace said in a statement.
At a ceremony in the provincial capital Pekanbaru last week, Riau Governor Wan Abu Bakar announced the ban, which [...]

Environmentalists could “kill” Korean president’s grand canal plan

SEOUL ~ The Ramsar wetlands protection conference in Changwon, South Korea, will be “the biggest and the best ever”, Mr Anada Tiega, the secretary general of the Ramsar Convention Secretariat, told reporters in Seoul today.
But he declined to say anything about the controversial plan by the South Korean President Lee Myung-bak who wants to build [...]