MEXICO MEETING SHOULD FOCUS ON TRUST REBUILDING : MARTY, DE BOER

      Nusa Dua, Bali, Feb. 26, 2010 (ANTARA) - The next climate change conference in Mexico should focus on rebuilding trust and implementation of existing agreements, according to Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa and UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer.
      The greatest challenge facing all countries towards Mexico was to rebuild trust, said the Indonesian foreign affairs minister at a press conference after concluding an informal ministerial level meeting on climate change here Friday.

UNEP CHIEF: ENVIRONMENT MINISTERS FIND COLLECTIVE VOICE AGAIN

       Nusa Dua, Bali, Feb. 26, 2010 (ANTARA) - UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner is optimistic about the results of the just concluded Bali environment ministers` meeting here as the conference had enabled them to find a collective voice again after the "great frustrations" in Copenhagen.
       "Without that there would never be any progress," Steiner told the press after the closing of the three-day 11th Special Session of the UNEP Governing Council and the Global Ministerial Environment Forum here on Friday.

Menteri LH Terima Delegasi 15 Negara

     Nusa Dua, 26 Februari 2010 (ANTARA News) - Menteri Lingkungan Hidup Gusti M Hatta menerima delegasi dari 15 negara untuk membicarakan kerjasama bilateral selama pertemuan lingkungan hidup tingat menteri di Nusa Dua, Bali, 22 hingga 26 Februari 2010.
     "Kerjasama bilateral sudah berjalan lancar. Selama saya di sini (Nusa Dua - Red.), delegasi dari 15 negara menemui saya, antara lain dari Norwegia, Swiss, Jerman, Jepang, Prancis, Iran, dan Aljazair," kata Menteri Gusti M Hatta kepada ANTARA, di Nusa Dua, Jum`at.

INDIA JOINS UNEP'S GLOBAL TREE-PLANTING CAMPAIGN

      Nusa Dua, Bali, Feb. 25, 2010 (ANTARA) - India has joined UNEP`s Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign (BTC) by planting two billion trees since 2007, bringing the international campaign`s total to date to over 10 billion planted trees worldwide.
       India also launched a compensation afforestation programme under which any diversion of public forests for non-forestry purposes was compensated through afforestation in degraded or non-forested land, India`s Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Forests Vijay Sharma announced here on Thursday.

RI, UNEP launch `Blue Carbon` global scientific assessment

    Nusa Dua, Feb 25, 2010 (ANTARA News) - Marine Affairs and Fisheries Minister Fadel Muhammad and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner launched a global scientific assessment on `Blue Carbon` here on Thursday.
     "Indonesia, as a country having 92,000 km-long beach and coastal areas, second after Canada, wants to do more on ocean and marine ecosystems for future generations," Minister Fadel said at a press conference held on the sidelines of the 11th Special Session of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum being organized on February 24-26.

PRESIDENT TO OFFICIALLY OPEN GLOBAL MINISTERIAL ENVIRONMENT MEETING

       Nusa Dua, Bali Province, Feb. 24, 2010 (ANTARA) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to officially open the 11th Special Session of the UNEP Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum at Bali International Convention Center here Wednesday.
      The meeting`s theme is "Environment in the Multilateral System" and it will discuss three topics, namely "International Environmental Governance (IEG) and sustainable development", "The Green Economy" and "Biodiversity and Ecosystems".

PRESIDENT OUTLINES FIVE STRATEGIES TO SAVE ENVIRONMENT

        Nusa Dua, Bali, Feb. 24, 2010 (ANTARA) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono outlined five strategies to save the environment when officially opening the 11th Special Session of the UNEP Governing Council /Global Ministerial Environment Forum, here on Wednesday.
      The first strategy is to change the pattern of production and consumption in order to save the Earth which is seriously damaged, for the sake of the present and future generations.

UNEP LAUNCHES HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES RESPONSIBILITY CAMPAIGN

      Nusa Dua, Bali, Feb. 24, 2010 (ANTARA) - The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) here Wednesday launched a `Safe Planet` or `body burdens` campaign to raise global awareness of the need for action on the threats posed by hazardous chemicals and wastes.
      "Hazardous chemicals and wastes are not only around us, but they are in our bodies," said Fatoumata Keita Ouane, senior scientific officer at UNEP`s secretariat to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

UNEP/GEF PROJECT SUCCESSFULLY CONSERVES SIBERIAN CRANE

       Nusa Dua, Bali, Feb. 24, 2010 (ANTARA) - Siberian cranes and millions of other migratory waterbirds have been saved through a conservation project supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implemented by the International Crane Foundation through the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).
        "In 2002, the birds were not seen," said Claire M Mirande of International Crane Foundation, and senior director of Conservation and Science, concurrently director of UNEP-GEF Siberian Crane Wetlands Project, here, Wednesday.

UNEP SASAKAWA PRIZE GOES TO GREEN STOVE, CLEAN LIGHTING PROJECTS

      Nusa Dua, Bali, Feb. 23, 2010 (ANTARA) - Green stove and clean lighting projects serving remote communities in Latin America, Africa and India have won the 2009-10 UNEP Sasakawa Prize.
        "Through pioneering green ovens and sustainable lighting, Nuru Design and Trees, Water and People are changing the lives of thousands of school children, housewives, and villagers across Latin America, Africa and India. This is the Green Economy of tomorrow, in action today," United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Executive Director Achim Steiner, said here on Tuesday.

F-11 COUNTRIES CALL FOR MOBILIZATION OF FINANCIAL RESOURCES

          Nusa Dua, Bali, Feb. 23, 2010 (ANTARA) - F-11 countries have called for mobilization of the financial resources of developed countries through the establishment of mechanisms such as REDD-plus.
         The agreement to provide incentives to Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) action through the immediate establishment of a mechanism including REDD-plus, to enable the mobilization of financial resources from developed countries, must be urgently realized, according to a press statement issued by ministers attending the F-11 countries meeting here on Tuesday.

HIGHER EMISSION CUT TARGETS NEEDED TO MEET 2 DEGREE LIMIT

     Nusa Dua, Bali, Feb. 23, 2010 (ANTARA) - Gas emission cut pledges listed in the Copenhagen Accord are likely not enough if the world wants to limit two degree rise of global temperature, according to UNEP.
      There were still opportunities to increase the targets and countries needed to define longer target than 2020, said United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Executive Director Achim Steiner, here on Tuesday.
       Countries will have to be far more ambitious in cutting greenhouse gas emissions if the world is to effectively curb a rise in global temperature at two degrees Celsius or less, according to a new greenhouse gas modeling study based on the estimates of researchers at nine leading centers compiled by UNEP.

RI congratulated for rejecting e-waste from US

      Nusa Dua, Bali, Feb 23, 2010 (ANTARA News) - The Basel Action Network has praised Indonesia for turning down nine containers of e-waste (electronic waste) from the United States last November 2009.
     "Last night, I congratulated the Indonesian environmental affairs minister for the Indonesian authorities` diligent action," Jim Puckett, coordinator of Basel Action Network (BAN), said here on Monday.

RI VULNERABLE TO TRAFFICKING IN HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES, WASTES

       Nusa Dua, Feb. 22, 2010 (ANTARA) - Indonesia is vulnerable to illegal trafficking in hazardous substances and wastes, according to the country`s environment minister.
       As a vast archipelagic country, Indonesia had about 2,000 locations which were potential entry points, Environment Minister Prof. Muhammad Hatta said here on Monday in his opening address at the Simultaneous Extraordinary Meetings of the Conferences of the Parties (COPS) to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions.

UNEP TO HOLD WORKSHOP ON REPORTING GREEN IN BALI

     Jakarta, Feb. 21, 2010 (ANTARA) - The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is to organize a workshop on "The Reporting Green- The Environment as News," in Nusa Dua, Bali Island, from February 22 to 26, 2010.
      The workshop will bring journalists into an active dialogue with experts, politicians and civil society leaders on current key environmental issues such as biodiversity loss, opportunities of the green economy and the future of environmental governance, according to Wambui Munge of UNEP Newsdesk, in a statement received by ANTARA, Sunday.

UNEP SELENGGARAKAN LOKAKARYA PEMBERITAAN LINGKUNGAN DI BALI

       Jakarta, 21/2, 2010 (ANTARA) - Program Lingkungan Hidup PBB (UNEP) akan menyelenggarakan lokakarya "Pelaporan Hijau Lingkungan Hidup sebagai Berita", di Nusa Dua, Bali, pada 22-26 Februari 2010.
      Peserta lokakarya akan berinteraksi aktif dengan para pakar, pejabat, dan tokoh masyarakat sipil untuk membahas berbagai masalah lingkungan seperti keragaman hayati dan ekonomi berwawasan lingkungan, kata Wambui Munge, pejabat di unit pemberitaan UNEP, dalam pernyataannya yang diterima ANTARA, di Jakarta, Minggu.

Promoting Healthy Life by Donating Blood by Fardah

Jakarta, Feb 6, 2010 (ANTARA News) - New chairman of the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) Jusuf Kalla has urged the public to make donating blood part of their life style and something to be proud of.

Kalla`s appeal is not an exaggeration as according to the World Health Organization (WHO), blood transfusion saves life and improves health.

RI MULLING ACTIONS, COST TO CUT GAS EMISSIONS By Fardah

      Jakarta, Feb. 3, 2010 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian government has started mulling actions and calculating the cost to implement its plan to cut gas emissions by 26 percent in 2020 and by 41 percent with international support.
      "In the spirit of thinking outside the box, in September this year Indonesia declared an emission reduction target of 26 percent of `business as usual` by 2020, and this can be increased to 41 percent with enhanced international assistance," President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said in his speech before participants of the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), in Copenhagen in December 2009.