The talkshow was part of a larger event - “the 2nd Indonesia Climate Change Education Forum and Exposition”, organized by the National Climate Change Council, in Jakarta on 20-22 April 2012.
During the discussion, Ambassador Homme and Agus Purnomo from the REDD+ Task Force briefed the educators and school student participants about the bilateral partnership between Norway and Indonesia, and shared some thoughts about the special importance of REDD+ and forest in efforts to tackle climate change challenges. The young and enthusiastic audience participated actively by raising important questions to the panelists, and shared their perspective as representatives of young urban Indonesians.
“Active involvement from the young generation in the debate about climate change adaption and mitigation is very important, and I really appreciate initiatives by the Indonesian REDD+ Task Force to actively engage the young generation to be part of climate change solutions”, said Ambassador Homme. He proposed they may do as their President to write a song about saving the forest, discuss it with the grown-ups and each other, write about it in the newspapers and make their own green clubs at school. The Ambassador admitted that climate change is a complex issue, and encouraged all to study and increase their knowledge.
Indonesia is the country with the third largest rainforest in the world, after the Amazon region and Congo Basin region. The talkshow brought up the important connection between forests, climate change and general awareness about how people living in big cities like Jakarta can still contribute to environmental protection and protecting Indonesia’s ’s remaining rainforests.
A statement such as “Hopefully, REDD+ will develop and conserve forests so that forests can produce more for our lifetime”, posted by one student on a wishing tree at the Task Force’s booth, illustrated the young generation’s hope for successful implementation of REDD+ to save forests and mitigation of climate change.