Haghia Lubis
Jakarta

Indonesia will host the13th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Frame¬work Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bah' this December. Indonesia has wel¬comed the conference with environmentally friendly ini¬tiatives for reducing carbon intensity and deforestation-linked emissions.

Indonesia deserves to be commended for such efforts. While developed countries that have created the climate change problem through their emissions still hesitate to adopt the convention, Indone¬sia, a developing country, has already taken measures to implement the convention.

At first glance, these initia¬tives and strategies seem cost¬ly, because environmentally friendly technology is still expensive. Having experienced tsunamis and earthquakes, Indonesia realizes that natural disasters can devastate the economy and hurt the general welfare. This understanding seems to confirm the belief that the cost of adopting envi¬ronmentally friendly technolo¬gy is not as expensive as the losses caused by disasters.

Indonesia relies heavily on the natural resources sector and any climate change might destroy natural resources. Des¬truction of natural resources would ruin not only Indonesia's agricultural and industrial sec¬tors, but also its economic and financial foundation.

The country's natural resources are currently being largely exploited by corpora¬tions under the government's supervision. Undeniably, .the corporations involved in the natural resources business play a crucial role.

This role is not without con¬straints however, as operations require business permits, envi¬ronmental assessments and reporting. In view of these aspects of the corporate regu¬latory regime, certain steps may be taken in order to involve corporations in imple¬menting the convention.

First, shift the burden and cost of adopting environmen¬tally friendly technology to corporations. The cost shifting could be included in Indone¬sia's environmental laws and regulations and enforced through central and regional governmental agencies. Second, encourage directors and CEOs to adopt environ¬mentally friendly technology through a corporate gover¬nance system that clearly stip¬ulates corporate obligations. Corporations are led by directors and officers who have a duty to represent shareholder Interests; .and it is within the interests of shareholders that long-term profits are preferred over immediate profits that are later lost due to disasters caused by climate change.

After adoption, rigorous enforcement is needed for a rule to take effect. While cor¬porations can play a .crucial role in implementing the con¬vention, the government is the only authoritative body to enforce the convention within the country.

There is a lot of work the government has to do to enforce the convention, including continuous monitor¬ing aimed at evaluating corpo¬rations' compliance with their environmental obligations. This monitoring is particularly difficult because corporate headquarters are usually located in Jakarta while busi¬ness operations are conducted in other parts of Indonesia.

One option is for corpora¬tions to report to and be super¬vised by the nearest govern¬ment environmental agency. This option enables on-the-spot checks by government officials. The downside is the time wasted relaying reports to central government environ¬mental agencies.

Another option is for the corporate sector to submit reports by e-mail, which would save considerable time. But it would also require addi¬tional budgetary funds, as not all government environmental agencies use this technology.

Both options underline the need for a set of laws govern¬ing the enforcement of the convention yet transcending regional and central bound¬aries and autonomy. Therefore, not only is interdepartmental cooperation needed; coopera¬tion among regions in Indone¬sia in upholding the conven¬tion is also imperative. Inter¬departmental cooperation is needed because one depart¬ment can't do all the work alone due to the number of corporations in Indonesia and the distance between regions.

Effective enforcement of the convention requires close com¬munication between regions throughout Indonesia. Such close relations have a positive effect on the nation. Improve¬ment in one region means improvement for all of Indone¬sia while a disaster in one region hurts the whole nation.

The writer is a Candidate for a joint M.A., LL.M. degree in international finance at Har¬vard Law School. She can be contacted at hnawawi@law. harvard.edu.