MANILA, Philippines—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo arrived in Indonesia Thursday for the World Ocean Conference in Manado, which seeks to outline the region’s collective action against global warming and climate change and to coordinate efforts to preserve the rich Coral Triangle.
Ms Arroyo will be the first among six leaders representing the Coral Triangle to speak on the preservation of the marine ecosystem in the area, according to Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo.
The Coral Triangle Initiative is a two-year-old effort to protect the vast resources of the area, which includes the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Timor Leste.
In its website, the World Wild Foundation for Nature said the triangle “holds the richest concentration of iridescent corals, fish, crustaceans, mollusks and marine plants in the world.”
Limestone labyrinths
“Labyrinths of limestone reefs, extensive sea grass meadows and coastal mangrove forests attract sea turtles and giants of the sea such as humpback whales to feed, breed and rest in the rich and sheltered waters,” it added.
The area spans more than 6.5 million square kilometers and is home to 75 percent of all known species in the world, according to Fajardo.
“The culminating activity will be the leaders’ declaration wherein leaders will be signing and adopt the Coral Triangle regional plan to protect and preserve the marine ecosystem,” she said.
Participating in the summit are leaders and ministers from more than 70 nations who were expected Thursday to call for oceans to be included on the agenda at climate change talks dedicated to finding a successor to the Kyoto Protocol.
Manado declaration
Delegates have urged joint action to handle rising sea levels and damage to the oceans caused by climate change and for the issue to be included in talks in Copenhagen in December.
“We hope that in this declaration we can bring our agenda, to bring the ocean agenda, proportionately into discussions on climate change,” Indonesian delegation head Arif Havaz Oegroseno said.
“We hope for oceans to be in a new post-2012 climate change agreement.”
Indonesian officials said the nonbinding declaration would include a call for funds for coastal countries to adapt to the effects of climate change and provisions for the transfer of green technologies.
Indonesian government conference chair Eddy Pratomo said the declaration was the first step on a long and possibly painful road of negotiations over how to protect maritime resources and ecosystems.
Date before marriage
“We have to date first before we get married. If we get married and move in together straight away, we’ll end up fighting,” he said.
Pratomo said there had been no resistance from rich countries on the inclusion in the agreement of adaptation funds, often a sticking point in climate talks between developed and developing countries.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told delegates in a recorded statement that nations needed to work harder to conserve oceans and fight climate change.
“Changes to our oceans threaten their ability to provide for their families and make a better life for their children,” Clinton said.
“Meanwhile, rising sea levels threaten the very existence of some communities and powerful storms have dealt devastating blows to developing economies.”
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told the meeting that the destruction of the oceans was a “life and death issue.”
“We must come to the rescue of the oceans. We must save them from the ravages of abuse and over-exploitation by humankind, from the havoc due to pollution and dire effects of climate change,” he said in a speech.
The 20-seater Gulf Stream 200 plane carrying Ms Arroyo and other Philippine officials landed at the Sam Ratulangi Airport in North Sulawesi shortly before 4 p.m.
With the President were Press Secretary Cerge Remonde, Environment Secretary Lito Atienza, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap and Trade Secretary Peter Favila.
