Jakarta. Trade, unsustainable production, processing and retail sales of products such as soy, palm oil and beef are factors often associated with deforestation around the world, but a new tool has emerged that could reduce associated future risks.

Thirty financial firms based in a number of countries are the subjects of a joint study by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the Natural Capital Declaration (NCD), entitled “Bank and Investor Risk Policies for Soft Commodities.”

A report on the result of the study, launched last week, highlights the vital urgency to pay attention to global deforestation and degradation risks.

Along with the report, UNEP and NCD launched their jointly developed Soft Commodity Forest-Risk Assessment Tool.

A joint press statement from the two organizations said the majority of the 30 institutions included in the study did not have policies to understand or address rules and regulations on forest conservation.

This despite the fact that forests are often affected by such companies’ investment in the forestry and agricultural sectors.

The emergence of the new tool can create an evaluation structure that will help those institutions and others alike to assess potential risks in regards to deforestation and forest degradation, the statement says.

UN undersecretary general and UNEP executive director Achim Steiner strongly believes in the importance of regulating deforestation due to the large number of leading consequences. On the other hand, strictly limiting the exploitation of tropical rainforests can lead to risks associated with water security, food, energy, health and climate on a global scale.

“Banks and investors who engage in the destruction of forests through their lending and investing practices expose themselves to potentially significant regulatory, reputational, legal, operational and market risks,” he said.

According to Steiner, the guided resolution should be to commit to the tools and methods that aid in limiting deforestation and instead generate value chains for products.

Andrew Mitchell, NCD co-director and  chief executive of Global Canopy Program, agrees with the new tool and its potential.

“The tool now gives the financial firms the means to update or develop soft commodity policies using the minimum and best-practice suggestions provided in the report,” he said.

Findings from the report suggest that the best performing companies, which have been looking after risks, include the African Development Bank, FMO Development Bank, the International Finance Corporation, Standard Chartered Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank.

Only 13 percent of the 30 companies included the study have been successfully developing products and services that provide safe and sustainable trade of commodities.

UNEP says companies and other institutions can now use this tool to adjust factors that will affect their scores in the deforestation control, and can use the 30 companies studied as a comparison or benchmark to improve their own policies.

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Jakarta. Ten Australian research scientists shared their experiences and highlighted Indonesia’s largely untapped scientific potential during a discussion forum with their Indonesian counterparts in Jakarta on Monday.

The Australian scientists visited the capital before attending the 2015 Indonesian-American Kavli Frontier symposium in Makassar, Sulawesi, from Monday through Saturday. The group hopes to contribute to the local scientific community by sharing their expertise in their respective fields.

Topics discussed in the Jakarta forum included physics, biology, sociology and health. The Australian and Indonesian researchers exchanged their experiences and views to explore the archipelago’s scientific potential, especially in collaboration with Australia.

Renowned Australian archaeologist and geochemist Maxime Aubert from Griffith University was among the participants of the event.

Having discovered 40,000-year-old cave art in Sulawesi last year, his work has been recognized as one of the top 10 most important scientific findings of 2014 by Science magazine.

“Indonesia is very rich archaeologically, with the oldest rock art in the world, but also different human species like Homo Sapiens, Homo Erectus, and Homo Floresiensis,” Aubert said.

Indonesian research scientist Agus Sunarto believes the country has the potential to build a greater and stronger scientific community given its mega biodiversity, diverse culture, and abundant natural and human resources.

Agus works with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Australia.

Seeking to analyze the deadly fish pathogen koi herpesvirus (KHV), he has studied its evolution and potential scientific and health-related improvements – including by creating an antiviral vaccine against KHV.

“Such a vaccine will help in protecting Indonesian koi and carp industries from KHV incursion,” Sunarto said. “I see a big improvement in [Indonesia] catching up with the [latest] technology, such as DNA sequencing.”

Despite Indonesia’s easy access to scientific information these days, Sunarto believes vast improvements still need to be made if the country wants to forge its research activities and maximize its scientific potential.

He added that Indonesia should start with deciding which research fields to focus on, and by encouraging more research collaborations.

“We lack focus on what [is important] for this nation. We also tend to work within isolated little kingdoms than collaborating with others. One of the key successes in science is collaboration,” he said.

Aubert, meanwhile, explained that “one of the major problems [Indonesia faces] is research funding.”

Even with the existence of professionals and well-trained Indonesian scientists, the lack of interest and appreciation for science in this country have been a major drawback.

If there are Indonesians who are willing to conduct scientific research, funding and the need for financial aid creates limitations.

According to a 2012 report released by the Program for International Student Assessment, Indonesia ranked 64th out of 65 member nations of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development for mathematics, science and reading.

Based on the progress of educational academia from countries across the globe over the coming years, Indonesia won’t be able to meet the expectations and demand of educational services in the sciences.

However, the country is still predicted to be a “major international education market in the next few years,” the British Council said in 2012.

Australia’s interaction with Indonesia within the realms of science has existed for quite some time, including in ongoing cultural and academic programs, which were created in the hopes to strengthen professional and white-collar relationships between the two neighbors.

Mutual interests are expected to strengthen Indonesia’s limited areas of collaboration, making it a much more science-driven nation than it has capacity for.

“[Monday's forum] will certainly help to create new opportunities… we can learn from each other and share our resources,” Aubert said.

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