Indonesia's president officially opens UNEP conference on environment
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http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/6901265.html
Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono officially opened the 11th Special Session of the UNEP (United Nations Environment Program) Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum at 11:00 Bali times ( 0300 GMT) on Wednesday.
The president said that he hopes the event could find the right solution on economic development for current generation and in the same time saving the next one.
"With the theme of "One Planet Our Responsibility", the event stressed the importance of the Earth for our next generation. Let' s find the best solution for this generation without sacrificing the next one," said the president in his opening speech.
Yudhoyono said that in the last 12 years, the Earth has been experiencing the highest temperature rise since 1850, prompting increase in sea level.
"One meter increase of sea level will impact negatively on millions of people," said the president.
That's why he stressed the importance of maintaining biodiversity.
"About 50,000 kinds of plants are already extinct and 40,000 species of endemic vertebrate are threatened to be disappeared," said the president.
He said that in 2008, at least 50 billion U.S. dollars of the world's economic value has disappeared, putting difficulties to countries in fulfilling the Millennium Development Goals in 2015.
The president also shared Indonesia's effort in saving the world by implementing "one person one tree" program.
"This year we target to plant one billion trees. We intend to contribute billions of trees to the world that will absorb tens of tons of carbon dioxide," said the president.
He also said that Indonesia intend to decrease deforestation, increasing the use of renewable energy and providing low-carbon mass transportation.
The event is scheduled to last till Feb. 26, gathering delegations from more than 130 countries.
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