Climate change, carbon emissions, zero waste, circular economy and sustainability. If you are anywhere on the Internet like 62% of the world's population, then you must be familiar with, understand, or at least hear these 21st century buzzwords. If you search for the term "sustainable" on Google, it will get more results than if you search for "Titanic", "Globalization" or even "BTS." Obviously, people all over the world are paying more and more attention to the concept of sustainable development.
The question is, how do we understand sustainability? What does sustainable development in development, business and life usually mean?
The concept of sustainability is based on the protection of the earth's resources and human well-being, and these resources are negatively affected by our abuse of production and consumption patterns. The Commission for Environment and Development (WCED) in its highly cited Brundtland report (also known as "Our Common Future") formally defines sustainable development as meeting the needs of contemporary people without compromising the satisfaction of future generations. The development of the required capacity. The Triple Bottom Line (TBL) was first proposed by John Elkington in 1994. It is the basic concept of balancing profits, people and the planet in business [1]. When the United Nations (UN) established 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, the concept really gained momentum, and its member states will adopt and implement them through a global partnership in 2030.
However, as a way of thinking, balancing wealth, society, and the environment has actually been part of traditional belief systems, religious teachings, medieval philosophies, and public lifestyles for centuries. Over the years, indigenous peoples around the world have developed and to a large extent maintained cultural knowledge, norms and rules derived from the process of adaptation to the environment, often referred to as local wisdom. Long before the emergence of natural, organic, and freely synthetic skin care craze, the Bajo people or the sea gypsy community had used the ingredients provided by the earth as their secrets. Even if they were in the sea, they could have healthy and firm skin most of the time. It's all in the sun. They use clam shells or rice grains mixed with herbs such as turmeric to make powder to protect their skin from the scorching sun.
Local wisdom is also at the core of many customary rules, including activities to manage natural resources. For example, many indigenous coastal communities in eastern Indonesia implement Sasi Laut, which only allows fishing in certain areas for about two weeks to three months and is closed for one to two years. This kind of local wisdom embodies the concept of marine protection and is passed on from generation to generation. Globally, indigenous peoples, who make up less than 5% of the world’s population, are protecting approximately 80% of the planet’s biodiversity.
In addition, economic, environmental and social issues appear in different forms and intensities in different countries and communities. It could be pollution in urban areas, degraded water quality in tourist destinations, or inadequate waste management systems in rural areas. Therefore, to achieve sustainability, a bottom-up approach is needed to identify the most pressing issues in a particular country or community. The integration of local wisdom will contextualize the various existing sustainable development frameworks, concepts, tools and innovations, thereby gaining positive awareness, better understanding and good implementation. It is a bridge that brings less-represented voices, ordinary people, and indigenous communities into the climate and sustainability dialogue; ensuring that no one is left behind.
[1] Elkington, J. (1998). Fork Cannibals: The triple bottom line of business in the 21st century. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Press.
Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc visits Switzerland and Russia
Ecosystem restoration: answers to Indonesia’s dilemma
Postgraduate of ASEAN Sustainability Management from Gadjah Mada University. Before that, I worked in a sustainable tourism destination development project in Wakatobi.
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Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc visited Switzerland and Russia (November 25 to December 2) to promote bilateral relations between Vietnam and the two countries. During his visit to Switzerland, the President of Vietnam initiated ties between the Swiss state and Vietnam. For Vietnam, which has ordered and managed eight different vaccines in the country to protect its citizens from the COVID-19 pandemic, more vaccines need to be purchased. The top priority is to obtain medical equipment and imported resuscitation support machines to save critically ill patients. In terms of medical equipment and diagnostic procedures, Switzerland is one of the countries at the forefront of research in the fields of diagnosis, pharmacy, life-saving drugs and new vaccine development. Vietnam has been facing a huge threat of new variants of COVID-19 and related complications. The country is seeking to conclude a free trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association. The European Free Trade Association is composed of Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and the trade basket between these two trading partners is also likely to improve. Vietnam is also slowly becoming an alternative manufacturing destination.
The total trade volume between Vietnam and Switzerland exceeds 3.5 billion U.S. dollars. As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for 2020-21, Vietnam is seeking to increase understanding and participation in international institutions such as the United Nations, its affiliated organizations, and the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Switzerland is also one of the destinations attracting Vietnamese tourists, and it is expected that there may be more flights between the two countries. During his visit to Switzerland, he also discussed the promotion of national defense relations, the interaction between the legal entities of the two countries, the promotion of technological interaction between different institutions, the encouragement of Swiss investment in Vietnam, and the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the two countries. Diplomatic relations between the two countries. On November 29, President Fook ended his visit to Switzerland and went to Moscow to meet with Russian President Putin.
During the visit to Russia, the two sides discussed areas for further cooperation in order to realize the true potential of a comprehensive strategic partnership, and coordinated in areas such as humanitarian and disaster relief. One of the important milestones during President Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s visit was the signing of a bilateral vaccine production agreement to produce Sputnik-5 in Vietnam. The agreement signed by Vabiotech and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) will promote the development of research on the Sputnik V vaccine in Vietnam and develop a flexible supply chain in Vietnam for the production of vaccines in the country. An interesting aspect of the agreement is the establishment of a research center and a small laboratory to study the efficacy of vaccines and develop new formulas to combat new variants of the coronavirus. Other prominent areas include the development of network security architecture, cultural exchanges, renewable energy research and promotion of sports between the two countries. Vietnam is becoming one of the important sources of iron ore, so Vietnam now hopes to diversify its automobile manufacturing facilities.
In fact, Vietnam is increasingly dependent on Russian defense imports. In the past, it imported advanced frigates, Sukhoi 30 aircraft and Kilo-class submarines. The increasingly close defense relationship between the two sides is also expected to be further expanded in sonar systems, supersonic missiles, air defense equipment, sailors and technical personnel training.
Even after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Vietnam and Russia have maintained long-term relations. Russia has always been very supportive of Vietnam’s efforts to confront the three major powers including France, the United States and China. The three Vietnam Wars and the bravery of Vietnamese soldiers were greatly appreciated in the former Soviet Union and later Russia. The historical origins between the two countries are highly appreciated, and the two sides have conducted a lot of research on cultural, historical and political interaction.
President Fook’s visit was regarded as a new member of the relationship between the two countries. The President stated in a business interaction that the two sides should expand trade by 15 times and promote investment in each other’s countries. In one of the interactions, he made it clear that Vietnam has become one of the top 20 priority countries, so Russian investors should look forward to investing in Vietnam. He urged Russian companies to take advantage of the free trade agreement signed between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union, and to understand Vietnam’s recent liberalization measures.
In the joint statement issued by the two sides, the mutual respect and friendship between the two countries were clearly expressed. The basis of this relationship is mutual trust, territorial integrity, the right to self-determination, and mutual non-use or threat of use of force. The joint statement clearly stated that the two countries will cooperate in areas such as security, military interaction, national defense and the development of new national defense technologies. The joint statement also stated that the two sides should work on capacity planning, training, and strengthening of scientific and technological cooperation, establish strategic partnerships in areas such as international law, and promote interaction between UN agencies. The joint statement also mentioned the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which is particularly important in the context of the continuous development of the South China Sea issue.
The president used his diplomatic wisdom to issue a joint statement in which developments in the South China Sea were clearly mentioned. Russia supports Vietnam’s efforts to fully and effectively implement the declaration of codes of conduct for parties in the South China Sea under the 2002 agreement. Another important aspect is to look for areas to promote ASEAN-Russian relations and realize the potential of both parties' comprehensive action plans. The visit to Switzerland and Russia was effective, and it achieved the goals set in terms of achievements and new ideas that will be put into practice in the future.
The pressure of the Indonesian government to actively participate in mitigating climate change has recently escalated. Since 2016, Indonesia has been part of the Paris Agreement and has joined the global movement to combat climate change and its negative effects. The agreement was first passed at COP 21, requiring countries that pledged to submit an updated national climate action plan in a five-year cycle, called Nationally Determined Contributions or NDC. Therefore, COP 26 held in Glasgow a few weeks ago became the focus of all activists and environmentalists to understand how each country has made progress in mitigating climate issues in the past five years. President Jokowi talked about Indonesia's achievements in mitigating climate change at COP 26, which was subsequently criticized by many Indonesian activists and environmentalists. He mentioned that Indonesia has been making positive contributions to combating climate change, and the rate of deforestation in Indonesia has been significantly reduced. Greenpeace criticized Jokowi’s all statements for failing to portray the entire situation as the current state of Indonesia. Greenpeace believes that the low rate of deforestation is not a product of policy intervention, but only caused by the rainy season.
Just a day after the COP 26 meeting, a tweet from the Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya added fuel to the fire. She tweeted to explain that the great development of the Jokoh era should not be stopped just because of carbon emissions or deforestation. She also raised the dilemma of the Indonesian government's goal of achieving net zero carbon by 2030. "If there is no concept of deforestation, it means that there is no road, then people, do they have to be isolated? At the same time, the government must stand among the people." The statement she made in her tweet is considered to support deforestation, which contradicts her responsibility to contribute to Indonesia's net zero commitment by 2060. It spread immediately on social media. In addition to the controversy, the 2015-2019 National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) mentioned six main national development goals: leading industry development goals, including food and energy. Deforestation is inevitable due to single food production and fossil fuel-based energy production, and Minister Siti’s controversial statement is more meaningful and reflects the dilemma of forest management in Indonesia.
However, the urgency of launching a global campaign to combat climate change is because climate change is becoming real. According to data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the global temperature in 2019 was 1.1 degrees Celsius higher than in the pre-industrial period. In addition, the total greenhouse gas emissions including land use changes reached 59.1 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent. It is undeniable that Indonesia has also made a significant contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. Global Forest Watch summarizes the loss of tree cover in Indonesia in the past decade. In the past two decades, Indonesia has lost 27.7 million hectares of tree cover, equivalent to 1.9 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions. An article by WRI Indonesia mentioned that although the overall deforestation rate declined from 2015 to 2018, several provinces with abundant virgin forests and peatlands, such as East Kalimantan, Maluku, and West Papua, experienced 43 %, 40%, and deforestation increased by 35% respectively. The impact of climate change affects the environment and society, and greatly affects the economy. At the 4th Indonesia Circular Economy Forum, the Indonesian National Development Program or Bappenas mentioned that the economic loss caused by climate change in 2024 will reach 115 trillion rupiah. However, Indonesia can reduce the loss to 57 trillion rupees by making some efforts in the following areas. Bappenas said to slow climate change.
The dilemma then leads to a question: how should the Indonesian government mitigate climate change without threatening the continuity of national development and without hindering economic growth? In 2004, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry issued regulations on the Ecosystem Restoration Concession (ERC) for production forest areas. ERC is a forest-based management model that allows the private sector to restore degraded land and use non-timber products and environmental services in production forest areas. The idea behind ERC is to provide investors with permits, similar to logging and industrial forest permits, to reforest areas affected by the other two permit activities. If ERC works well, it can help expand the scale of carbon capture and offset the carbon footprint of development activities. Since private companies manage ERC, it may also have a positive impact on the economy. Unlike non-governmental organizations or non-profit organizations, the ERC plan requires operating companies to benefit from ecosystem restoration. It can come from using non-wood products such as honey, bamboo or rattan, growing medicinal plants, protecting wild animals, developing eco-tourism, and carbon capture and storage.
Although ERC is a relatively new concept and not as attractive and popular as other types of concessions, some ERC companies have managed to make some progress to support Indonesia's development plans and climate change mitigation goals. The ERC of PT Rimba Makmur Utama (RMU), also known as the Katingan-Mentaya project, focuses on carbon business to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and sells its carbon credits to companies such as Shell, Volkswagen and NP Paribas. By protecting and restoring forests, RMU obtained verification carbon units of approximately 4.34 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2017. PT Restorasi Ekosistem Riau (RER), a member of the APRIL Group, is also committed to protecting, restoring and conserving forest ecosystems through ERC. RER has been inventing plants and animals, preventing forest fires and conducting ecosystem research in its concession of 150.693 hectares of forest in Riau Province. RER embodies APRIL's commitment that for every hectare planted in APRIL's pulp and paper plantations, one hectare of land will be protected. PT Restorasi Ekosistem Indonesia (REKI) is the first ERC license holder and has become home to 1.350 species, improving local livelihoods by protecting farmers’ land rights, promoting women’s rights, and protecting deforestation-free areas through its Hutan Harapan . PT Restorasi Habitat Orangutan Indonesia (RHOI) provides a safe habitat for more than 400 orangutans from the BOS Foundation Orangutan Reintroduction Program.
ERC business models usually include carbon sinks, wildlife protection, forest protection, use of non-timber forest products (NTFS), development of eco-tourism, promotion of local economy and R&D. These activities may support national development plans in practical and strategic ways. Five of the seven agenda items of the National Medium-Term Development Plan 2020-2024, namely, strengthening economic resilience, reducing inequality in regional development, improving human resources, building ethnic characteristics and culture, improving the natural environment, and building climate and disaster resilience , The ecosystem restoration concession can be used as a strategy to achieve sustainable development goals. In addition, the implementation of the comprehensive law can benefit investors from engaging in ecosystem restoration business. The current regulation P.8/2021 issued by the Minister of Environment and Forestry allows multiple business activities to be carried out in production forests with only one license called PBPH. With PBPH, investors can more flexibly choose where to invest in ecosystem restoration. In addition, Indonesia's presidency of the G20 in 2022 will also force President Joko to show off his ability and willingness to move towards sustainable development. By promoting ERC and putting best practices into practice, ecosystem restoration can be the most strategic way to solve the dilemma between climate change and development.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Ching visited Japan from November 22nd to 25th. The leaders of the two countries discussed trade, investment, national defense, culture and strengthening political relations. Former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga visited Vietnam in October 2020. This was his first visit to a foreign country. With the arrival of the new Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, the Vietnamese Prime Minister believes that it is a wise move to engage with the new political leadership. Not long ago, Kurt Campbell said that India and Vietnam will be the key to determining the destiny of Asia, and the three countries of India, Vietnam and Japan have been cooperating closely. There are two main factors. These three countries are all on China’s periphery and have major stakes in resolving disputes in the South China Sea. Secondly, these three economies are promising economies in Asia and are regarded as the main precursors of technology, economic growth and sustainable development.
The Prime Minister of Vietnam’s visit this time is mainly from the perspective of the need for a "free and open Indo-Pacific" and the development of close cooperation between Vietnam and Japan. During the Japanese Defense Minister’s visit to Vietnam last year, the two sides signed a number of agreements, including technology transfer and defense trade between the two sides. Vietnam is facing some challenges related to trade and investment, the increase in Covid 19 pandemic cases, the need to modernize the armed forces, and the realization of the potential of ASEAN and other regional organizations. Promoting foreign direct investment in Japan is the main agenda of the Vietnamese Prime Minister’s visit.
This visit by the Prime Minister of Vietnam is his first official visit to Japan. Vietnam is increasingly regarded as a middle power country, and it needs Japan’s support and cooperation in waste management, infrastructure development, development of technology parks, export processing zones, and vocational training skills to become one of the engines of economic growth in Southeast Asia. In fact, Japan is one of the few countries in Asia that has reached a bubble agreement with Vietnam during COVID-19 to facilitate the travel of passengers and businessmen from the two countries. Given that Vietnam is slowly opening up its trade, investment and tourism sectors, it will look for countries in Europe and Asia to stimulate the country's development. Japanese tourists are important inbound tourists in Vietnam because of their spending and booking high-end resorts and hotels.
After the COP-26 meeting in London, Asian countries have high hopes for reducing their carbon footprint and finding other viable energy sources. The visit of the Prime Minister of Vietnam discussed various issues related to Vietnam's politics, security, cultural interaction and human resource development. The defense ministers of the two countries also signed an agreement on technology transfer and export of Japanese defense equipment and weapons to Vietnam. Japan has formulated a policy of supporting countries along the South China Sea through patrol boats and fast attack boats.
One of the key areas Vietnam is looking for is the development of domestic technology and scientific rigor. In this case, cooperation with Japanese scientific institutions and academia will help Vietnam develop skills and human resources to cater to Industrial Revolution 4.0. In addition, Vietnam is seeking to develop expertise in machine learning, big data mining, artificial intelligence, underwater systems, development of sustainable development and energy resources in South China Sea islands, so that soldiers can become self-sufficient in energy and cleanliness. Water resources. Japan has been looking for alternative sources of investment and developing infrastructure in countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. After repeated COVID-19 pandemic cases in China, Vietnam itself is becoming a viable alternative to China. Japanese investors and entrepreneurs are seeking to relocate their businesses and investments.
It is undeniable that developments in the South China Sea are of vital importance to both Vietnam and Japan, and it is hoped that the leaders of the two countries will discuss these issues in detail. In the past, Japan and other allies expressed regret for China's arbitrary behavior in the South China Sea. Vietnam is seeking cooperation with Japan in submarine hunting capabilities and developing acumen to better manage human resources in the defense sector. The two sides have great potential for military cooperation in maritime reconnaissance aircraft, fast attack boats and coastal radar systems. In addition, the sonar system and the helicopter-mounted surveillance system developed will and have Vietnam's defense and surveillance capabilities. The two countries signed an agreement on space defense and cyber security.
One of the important key areas discussed by the two countries involves the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the promotion of intra-regional trade in order to develop better complementarity between the two parties. Another important forum that Japan and Vietnam have joined is the CPTPP, and there is speculation that President Joe Biden may be interested in rejoining the organization. Both Taiwan and China expressed interest in joining, but Japan only supports Taiwan. With the two countries at the crossroads of economic integration and regional economic integration, it is expected that the leaders of the two countries will discuss necessary checks and balances to strengthen regional integration while protecting the trade interests of the two countries. grade.
Vietnam is also seen as a possible candidate country for the Quad Plus program, and Japan has always insisted on engaging with the country in a more proactive manner. India, Vietnam, and Japan may be a trilateral country that will bring huge markets. A strong technological foundation, unique cultural characteristics and common strategic concerns are the glue between these three countries. The development of relations between Vietnam and Japan will reconfigure the identity and future of Asia.
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