ENVIRONMENTALISTS WANT MARINE ISSUE INCLUDED IN IPCC AGENDA

Manado, May 11 (ANTARA) - The marine issue should be included in the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) agenda in Copenhagen in December, 2009, environmentalists said.

"Through the World Ocean Conference (WOC), we hope the marine issue can be included the IPCC meeting in Copenhagen in December this year," former Environment Minister Emil Salim said at the side line of WOC Senior Official Meeting (SOM) at Grand Kawanua Hotel here on Monday.

Emil Salim admitted that the marine issue so far has gained less attention in the international meetings on climate change and bio-diversity.

He said that although the sea had a great potential to absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) the issue on it was frequently ignored in the international meetings on bio-diversity and climate change.

Meanwhile, another Indonesian environmentalist Sarwono Kusumaatmadja and Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Freddy Numberi at the World Ocean Conference expressed hope that the marine issue could as well be included in the IPCC agenda.

According to them, the sea has important role in climate stability and therefore researches on it were frequently conducted but the issue was less discussed than forest role at international meetings on environmental safety.

"At WOC, a comprehensive policy on marine issue will be made and include it in the agenda of IPCC conference on climate change in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December 2009, and international agreement after Kyoto Protocol in 2012," Sarwono Kusumaatmadja said after the opening of WOC Senior Official Meeting.

He said there should be an effort in mainstreaming the marine issue in a global scenario about climate stability.

"There should a certain party to voice the marine issue globally, and it is fitting Indonesia can do so because it is the largest archipelagic country in the world," Kusumaatmadja said.

Meanwhile, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Freddy Numberi in his opening address of WOC Senior Official Meeting said there should be global commitment, especially from the WOC participating countries, to pay their close attention to marine issue.

Numberi said a joint effort was expected to be made in the WOC to fight against the impact of climate change on seas around the world in connection with the rising of sea level as the result of melting ice at the Pole.