Thousands join Jakarta Climate Carnival

Thousands of people from across Indonesia joined a rally in capital Jakarta on Wednesday, calling on the government to reject coal in favour of renewable energy.

The 'Climate Carnival' was held in hopes of convincing Indonesian President Joko Widodo to revise his ambitious energy programme, which seeks the development of new power plants with a total capacity of 35,000 Megawatts between 2015 and 2019, EFE news reported.

The rally, organised by Greenpeace, Indonesian environmental NGO WALHI and mining advocacy network JATAM, came as part of the Break Free from Fossil Fuels 2016 global campaign.

More than 3,000 participants waved banners, bearing slogans such as 'Stop Dirty Energy Investments' and 'Stop Pollution, Stop Using Coal', as they called for Indonesia - one of the world's biggest coal producers - to reject coal and to honour the commitment made in the Paris Agreement last year to reduce the country's carbon emissions.

Greenpeace activist Arif Fiyanto said the protest was particularly important because climate change is "not only our problem, but also a global problem".

"Indonesia, as one the most vulnerable countries to climate change and the least prepared countries to deal with it, must take action before it is too late," he said.

In a statement, organizers called on the government to "end Indonesia's addiction to coal".

--IANS

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