Concrete action needed Indonesia to face global warming

Yogyakarta (ANTARA News) - The global warming issue in Indonesia needs to be followed up by immediate and concrete action to tackle it, an environment ministry official said.

Many simple things could be done to tackle global warming but unfortunately people in Indonesia still lacked serious concern about the problem, Arif Yuwono, secrtary to the Environment Minister said at a workship on glabal warming here Monday.

"Indonesian people seem to be indifferent about environmental issues, including global warming, because their mind is preoccupied by politics and entertainment," Arif said.

He said there were many ways in which people could actively participate in protecting their own neighborhoods and reduce the dangers of global warming.

"Pollution in Indonesia`s major cities has become inevitable because of motor vehicles` emssions but if the people are willing to walk or use bicycles to go from one place to another, gas emissions can be reduced," he said.

Another way of reducing global warming, according to Arif, was to turn off lights that were not needed, and to grow plants actively because trees could reduce pollution.

Arif said global warming would have a negative impact on all aspects of life, not only on the life of human beings but also on that of plants and thus on agriculture.

"It is high time for Indonesian people to show more concern about the environment and make efforts to ovecome the effects of global warming which have lately already begun to become manifest," he said.(*)

http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2007/7/30/concrete-action-needed-indonesia-to-face-global-warming/