Coordinating Minister Airlangga Discusses Environmental Issues And Sustainable Economy With The UK's COP26 President

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto is said to have received British COP26 President Alok Sharma during an official visit to discuss various global strategic issues. According to Airlangga, Indonesia in this year's G20 Presidency is pushing for important efforts towards net zero emissions and energy transition.

Airlangga said, RI was also conducting a review of the results of the Forest, Agriculture and Commodity Trade (FACT) Dialogue and also the participation format in the future.

For information, Britain as the initiator is intensively following up on the FACT Dialogue agreement as summarized in the Roadmap for Actions document which was launched on the sidelines of COP26 in Glasgow, last November 2021.

"We hope that the UK's plan to implement sustainability standards for a number of agricultural, plantation and forestry commodities will not hinder and become a barrier to bilateral trade between the two countries. It is important for all countries to prioritize mutually beneficial cooperation for economic recovery," he said in an official statement on Thursday, February 17.

Airlangga added that the priority of the Indonesian G20 Presidency is specifically closely related to the COP26 agreement, namely the energy transition to reduce carbon emissions.

"The Indonesian G20 presidency views the need for joint concrete steps in the three priority areas, namely health, the digital economy, and the energy transition in the context of a sustainable global recovery," he said.

On this occasion, Alok Sharma said that his party was committed to implementing the agreement with all stakeholders, including Indonesia.

"Indonesia's G20 presidency is very strategic and can create synergy in various sectors and issues in the context of dealing with climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions globally. For that we are ready to support Indonesia in implementing the Glasgow agreement in line with the Presidency at the G20," he said.

Bilaterally, Indonesia and the UK have agreed on a commitment to the Timber Legality Verification System (SVLK), and the harmonization of the Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) standard. The two countries also agreed to synergize a number of international agendas that will be implemented this year and require attendance at the highest level, namely the G20 Summit in Bali (15-16 November 2022), the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia (12-13 November 2022), and the APEC Meeting Summit (November 12-13, 2022). 19-20 November 2022).