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Jakarta’s Green Credentials Need More Work, New Report Finds
Ulma Haryanto & Dewi Kurniawati | February 16, 2011

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Jakarta has been rated along with nine other Asian cities as “average” in its environmental practices, according to a new study.

The Asian Green City Index, which was released in Singapore on Monday, put the Indonesian capital in the same group as Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Delhi, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing and Wuhan.

The study, by the London-based Economist Intelligence Unit and commissioned by German electronics firm Siemens, found Singapore was the greenest of 22 major Asian cities. It also showed Jakarta had surprisingly low levels of carbon dioxide emissions and the lowest energy consumption, but fared poorly in waste management, water and sanitation.

“The city emits an estimated 1.2 metric tons of carbon dioxide per person per year, compared to the 22-city average of 4.6 metric tons, and it also consumes an estimated 2.4 megajoules per US dollar of GDP per year, compared with the index average of 6.0 megajoules,” the study said.

It performed less well on clean energy policies, largely because it lacked a clear strategy to reduce the environmental impact of energy consumption and made only partial investments in renewable energy initiatives, the report said.

Rudy P. Tambunan, head of urban development studies at the University of Indonesia, said the report was not a surprise, but even though Jakarta had scant public green space, plenty of private areas exist to help absorb carbon dioxide. “The government’s determination to cut emissions through better control of private vehicles through car dealers also helped,” he told the Jakarta Globe.

Even though Jakarta generates less waste than the 22-city average, an estimated 292 kilograms per person per year compared to 375 kg, only 35 percent of its refuse was collected and disposed of properly — much worse the average of 83 percent.

“Jakarta is marked down in the index for lacking standards for waste disposal sites and for only making partial efforts to enforce standards for industrial hazardous waste,” the report said.

Rudy said the city administration needed to work with the satellite cities of Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi to handle waste management together.

The index rates the environmental performance of cities based on 29 separate indicators selected by an independent panel of experts, including from the United Nations and World Bank.

“Environmental awareness is growing and most Asian cities have comprehensive environmental policies,” Jan Friederich of the EIU said. “What distinguishes them is the ability to execute and enforce those regulations.”

Also on Monday, the Globe’s Dewi Kurniawati won the Siemens Green Technology Award for Asean in the industrial productivity category for her article on green cars.