MANADO, KOMPAS.com - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the ongoing World Ocean Conference (WOC) in Manado, North Sulawesi, should not yield a new process for dealing with climate change. The president made the remark when opening the WOC 2009 at the Grand Kawanua Convention Center (GKCC) here on Thursday morning.
"We have to make it plain that what we are going to do at WOC is not producing a new process but instead strengthen and complete the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)," the President said. He added the maritime community wanted marine issues to be part of a global solution to problems related to climate change which had been under discussion.
"We have to make sure that sensitive marine policies will be be included in the new regime so that a humanitarian approach can be made to the climate change challenge, an approach that is comprehensive and holistic," he said. The head of state said that if the Climate Change Convention in Copenhagen adopted such an approach and the international community applied it well, then mankind would have a better future.
"It is an important opportunity for us to make a momentous statement for the future of our oceans, planet, and human race, a message that can be heard out there beyond this convention hall," Yudhoyono said. He said the last time the world heard a political message from the maritime community was during the signing of an international maritime law in 1982 which gave a dramatic change to the maritime system.
"Now is the right time for the world to listen to another important message that we can only be safe in the 21st century if we are united to protect our oceans," Yudhoyono said.
