TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo participated at the Virtual Leaders Summit on Climate from the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java, on Thursday night, April 22, 2021. On the international stage, he shared thoughts about climate change issues.

First, Widodo emphasized Indonesia’s seriousness in controlling climate change and invited the world to take concrete actions. He claimed that through policy, empowerment, and law enforcement, the country’s deforestation rate has plummeted to the lowest rate in 20 years.

“The halt in the conversion of natural forests and peatlands has reached 66 million hectares, wider than the combined area of the United Kingdom and Norway. The reduction in forest fires hit 82 percent while several regions in the United States, Australia, and Europe experience the highest increase [in wildfire in size],” said Widodo.

He then called on world leaders to advance green development. He said Indonesia has updated its nationally determined contributions (NDC) to increase climate adaptation capacity and resilience.

Global partnerships must also be strengthened, the President underlined, in a bid to achieve the targets of the Paris Agreement and the next common agendas. Understanding and strategies need to be built to achieving net zero emissions ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP-26) in Glasgow.

“Indonesia continues to support the efforts of our friends in the Pacific region. We must continue to take real collective action, global partnerships, and not blame each other, let alone enforce trade barriers under environmental issues,” Jokowi said.

The Virtual Leaders Summit on Climate was officially opened by U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The conference was attended by 41 world leaders.

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EGI ADYATAMA