Pay poor countries for saving forests: Yudhoyono

I thought this report on the AsiaOne website was absolutely hilarious! Allegedly, the Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has asked the UN to “think outside the box” and compensate poorer countries such as Indonesia as an incentive for them to preserve their rainforests.

The rationale? – The rainforests soak up greenhouse gases and if countries that ‘talk the talk’ of global warming etc should ‘put their money where their mouths are’.

This, though hugely opportunistic, is ingeniously so. Kudos!

Of course President Yudhoyono would agree with the opportunistic part, he said, “I count myself as an optimist who sees today a larger window of opportunity to strike a global consensus to tackle global warming,' Dr Yudhoyono said.