The Burning Season

Shooting the final scenes of the film at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali

The Conference ran for two weeks and was tasked with coming up with an agreed ‘roadmap’ for discussions over the next two years on the second phase of the Kyoto protocol after 2012. The UN process requires consensus from all participating countries, which included the USA. There over 10,000 people representing 180 countries, and this was always going to be an enormous challenge. I hadn’t considered what might happen if the parties failed to reach consensus or how close we would come to that happening.

We arrived at the Conference centre on the Monday of the first week to hear that already the Australian delegation had been greeted with a standing ovation. This was due to Kevin Rudd’s announcement that his first action as Australia’s new Prime minister would be to ratify the Kyoto protocol.   

Our crew for this last leg of the film consisted of me, Esther our fearless cinematographer, Jeff doing sound and SamLara, our 15 year old daughter as PA and stills photographer. She was the youth reporter for a webcast for the NSW Education Department focussed on climate change. This involved doing a video report on the major activities taking place in Bali associated with the conference and lining up two guests for a live webcast on the first Friday at 11am. Our assistant director, Felicity Blake also joined us in Bali, but on this occasion, she was working for both a US environment group and for Dorjee, helping them organise the Green Governor’s Dinner. 

The first week was relatively quiet. The leaders were all due to arrive in the second week, so this was a time for the negotiators to bunker down in backrooms and work out deals. Dorjee was doing a lot of strategy meetings and preparing for the dinner he was hosting for the Governors of four provinces; Aceh, Papua, West Papua and Amizonas. There was a significant amount of lobbying and activities to promote REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) which was the main issue of concern at this conference for our characters. And almost all of our characters were in Bali. Governor Irwandi and Governor Bas were promoting their innovative forest protection and carbon trading projects. Patrick was there to speak for the indigenous people’s of the forest and ensure REDD negotiations took account of their rights. Hardi was there to speak for the orangutans. And of course, Dorjee was there to pull together all the players associated with his ambitious project and to announce it to the world. And he was there to monitor the outcomes of the conference, particularly in relation to the forests. The stage was set for the final show-down.

Some highlights of the first week included:
•    An innovative and impressive Balinese dance performance created to signify the importance of the forests in relation to climate change.
•    The Indonesian Minister of Forestry launching his REDD proposal with Governors Irwandi of Aceh and Governor Bas of Papua at his side – a symbolic breakthrough for the two Governors.
•    Greenpeace honouring Governor Bas at the launch of their forest protection strategy
•    Wetlands International’s awareness raising event that included the Governor of Kalimantan. Hardi Baktianoro arrived from Borneo to attend this event. 

Hardi is the brave and resolute campaigner we met in the remote areas of Kalimantan capturing footage of illegal logging and the destruction of orangutan habitat. He was Lone’s right hand man at the orangutan rescue and rehabilitation centre until he decided to strike out on his own to take more direct action to protect orangutans.  He came to Bali with his photographic and video evidence, determined to show it to someone with the power to stop the destruction. At the Wetlands International event, he fronted up to the Governor of Kalimantan and told him what he had seen. The Governor had just been at the podium expressing his determination to protect the forests, and was in an open and sympathetic mood. He promised to meet with Hardi after the conference to examine his evidence and take immediate action. Throughout the conference, there were signs and a sensibility that ‘the world is watching’. This was very clear to the Governor of Kalimantan as we filmed his meeting with Hardi and recorded his promise to do something.

Dorjee’s Green Governor’s event was scheduled for the Friday night of the first week. There was some drama leading up to the event, arising from the juggling act of trying to get four headstrong governors into one room at the same time to discuss their common interests. Dorjee’s resilience and charm were once again called into play, resulting in an evening of important relationship building, significant gestures, charm and humour and another milestone in Dorjee’s long hike to achieving success. As he so eloquently put it as his guests were leaving; this is an end but not the end.

At this stage, Dorjee was still hoping for a major breakthrough at Bali. He needed a commitment from the delegates in the main plenary on including REDD in the second phase Kyoto agreement. He also wanted a signed and sealed deal on his Aceh and Papua projects before the conference ended. He wasn’t getting much sleep.

In the second week of the Conference, the temperature soared. As the world leaders flew into the sweltering Bali heat, the pace and stakes were lifted and the debate got heated. Greenpeace brought in balloons with giant eyeballs and slogans to remind the delegates that “The World is Watching”. The number of side events and related activities increased. We attended the launch by the President of Indonesia of the orangutan protection program with Australian environment minister Peter Garrett and Terri Irwin as guest speakers.

We also heard Sir Nicholas Stern give his assessment of the targets needed to avert a catastrophe, and Al Gore stridently criticising his own country for lack of action and poor leadership. And we were there when Kevin Rudd received the prolonged applause from the entire world for his leadership in signing the Kyoto protocol as his first major act as Prime Minister. It was a proud moment for Australia. We managed to get access to a meeting between our prime Minister and Sir Nicholas that was fun to be part of, even though we were only allowed to film the two men shaking hands and laughing.  That evening Kevin Rudd hosted an event for all Australians in Bali. It was informal and relaxed, and no filming was allowed, but we were very impressed to see Kevin mingling with the crowd at length and taking the time to talk to people. He even had a chat with Sam, and gave her a warm hug for the camera. Finally this 15 year old has a Prime Minister she can respect and leaders such as Al Gore and that she can look up to and admire.  In the final days of the conference, she threw herself into the youth activism program with renewed vigour and enthusiasm that made her parents very proud.

Friday was meant to be the final day of the conference. But by midnight, the delegates still had not agreed on the broad principals of the next phase of the agreement. Word got out that the USA was obstructing progress. Not knowing when the delegates would return to the main plenary hall, we were ready to sleep on the floor of the media area so as not to miss anything. Then we heard that the translators had packed up, so we ducked back to our hotel for a few hours sleep, and were back on our balcony by 7am.

The final day was one of high drama as the pressure to reach an agreement mounted in the room and around the world. The two USA representatives were sitting near enough to us to get a close up. When they announced that they could not support the agreement, known as the ‘Bali Roadmap’, because the developing nations weren’t making a strong enough commitment to reducing emissions, the room erupted with loud booing. The developing countries then went on the offensive. They urged, pleaded, cajoled and even begged the USA to show leadership or “get out of the way”. The pressure on the two US delegates was enormous, and eventually they gave in and agreed to support the proposal. The room erupted in cheers. The entire world had agreed on one thing. It was a fine moment.

There was one more vital piece of business. The inclusion of REDD into the next round of Kyoto was put to the delegates and agreed unanimously. Dorjee was in the room wearing a radio mic and his small whoop of relief and joy was understated but deeply felt. This was a profound moment for Dorjee, for the forests and for the orangutans. It means that mechanisms for reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation, including carbon trading deals, are now on the table for talks that map out the new 2012 climate treaty. While that is still five years off, the agreed text offers retroactive benefits for ‘early action’ that protects forests today. This is the outcome Dorjee wanted and needed to build confidence and credibility into his carbon trading deal for the forests of Aceh and Papua. Although he wasn’t able to get a signed deal in Bali, the acceptance of avoided deforestation into the next global treaty provides him with the missing piece of the puzzle to push the deal through.

With the conference finally over, we all headed for the beach. I filmed Dorjee surfing and relaxing at a beach side café. And then the storm that had been building for days broke and the rain came bucketing down. Dorjee walked out into the storm, and unaware that I was filming, raised his hands to the heavens and let the rain pour over him. It was a magic moment, a Shawshank moment, and a fitting end to our film. 

Where to from here? We are back in Australia, and the editing has begun. For the next four months, editor Jane St. Vincent Welch and I will be attempting to bring the almost 200 hours of footage down to a 90 minute film. It feels a bit like trying to squash an elephant into a matchbox. The action spans four continents over 10 months. The story is vast, the characters compelling, and the issues complex. Our challenge is to make these complex issues clear while maintaining a strong dramatic narrative and the right mix of humour, gravity, tragedy and triumph. Watch out for a world premier sometime around early May. 

Cathy Henkel
December 2007.

Bali report

This was an extremely high value trip.  I shot an important sequence for the film and forged valuable relationships and connections for the future. Dorjee’s role in the story (and as an intriguing character in the film) is now clearer. He used the Bali trip to consolidate his position as the lead player in carbon trading as a means of reducing deforestation in Indonesia.

It could have gone another way, but Dorjee wrangled, cajoled and persisted. He is a very clever operator. What he achieved is a 6 month moratorium on logging in Aceh and agreement from three governors from the provinces of Aceh, Papua and West Papua to reduce deforestation in order to curb climate change. He also managed to get all three governors to sign an agreement making his company, Carbon Conservation, the preferred supplier of carbon trading and marketing services to all three provinces.  And the connection to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has come one step closer.

The Bali Roundtable meeting took place at the Westin Nusa Dua, an elaborate resort which will also be the location of the upcoming 13th UN Conference of Parties (COP 13) on climate change to be held in Bali this December.

The purpose of this Bali gathering was for the three governors of Indonesia’s most important forest provinces, Aceh, Papua and West Papua, to meet and discuss ways to preserve their vast areas of forest from illegal logging and burning. These governors are aware that deforestation has placed Indonesia in 2007 as the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases after the United States and China. Indonesia has recently suffered the effects of several extreme natural disasters including the massive floods in Jakarta, landslides in Papua, and of course the devastating tsunami which hit Aceh on Boxing Day 2006. The leadership in Jakarta has however been slow to respond with effective measures to reduce deforestation.  The three governors who came to Bali are determined to lead the way.

Wednesday: The day before the Roundtable meeting was crucial for Dorjee. His objective was to get a signed agreement from the three governors giving his company, Carbon Conservation, the lead role in securing carbon finance for the three provinces. Dorjee met behind closed doors with advisors to both the governors of Aceh and Papua. He also introduced me to his two new colleagues: John O Niles, a young American who has joined Dorjee as his Chief Scientific Officer and Mark Jackson, Executive Director of The Carbon Pool, a company that Dorjee has recently acquired. The Carbon Pool is famous for engineering the single biggest trade of carbon in Australia’s history involving mining giant Rio Tinto Aluminium and the State of Queensland which saved 13,000 hectares of native vegetation in Queensland. 
Dorjee and his two colleagues went to work behind the scenes to build credibility and confidence with the three governors and to secure their agreement.

Thursday: By the morning of the Roundtable, Dorjee was very anxious. Not only were the governor’s advisors moving slowly on his agreement, but there was wording in the proposed press statement to be released that afternoon that could sink his project. The governor of Aceh came to Bali intending to announce a moratorium on all logging in his province. Dorjee and his team met with him the night before in his hotel room (which I filmed) to try and convince him to change the language so as not to render carbon trading irrelevant. A complete moratorium would mean there was no point in selling carbon credits in Aceh, if the buyers perceived that the forests were going to be protected anyway. Dorjee urged him to change the proposal to a six month moratorium in order to buy time and develop new forest management systems, such as the proposed carbon trading mechanisms. By the morning of the Roundtable, it was not clear whether the governor had agreed to this or not. Dorjee and his team were sweating. 

Also present at the meeting was Patrick Anderson, brought in by Fauna & Flora International to help structure the announcement. Patrick’s main concern was to ensure that the rights of local and indigenous communities are fully recognised in any avoided deforestation agreements. He sees Dorjee’s proposal as potentially workable, so long as the proposed finance goes into the pockets of the local people and not government officials as has happened so often in the past.

Representing the federal government was highly esteemed ex-Environment Minister and currently advisor to the President, Pak Emil Salim. He applauded the initiative of the three governors, but warned them of the problems of policing forest protection and stopping illegal logging. In particular he spoke of the urgency of curbing the rampant forest fires predicted for the upcoming dry season. One of his concerns was the loss of face by the Indonesian government at the upcoming COP 13 meeting in Bali. They would have no credibility in talking about reducing carbon emissions through avoided deforestation projects if outside their doors massive fires were still burning across their country. 

After the various presentations, the delegates rolled up their sleeves to draft the press release for the 4pm Press Conference. This is where Dorjee had to be proactive. Working the room like a stalking tiger, he did not let go until the language of the moratorium reflected his objectives. He also made sure that his company’s name found its way into the press release.

Our camera captured a clever and smooth operator at work, and his 100% success in getting what he wanted. As the press clamour outside, he munches on an apple and quietly smiles.

The Press conference was attended by approximately 30 journalists. They were told that the three governors are taking the lead in Indonesia to include avoided deforestation in global carbon trading mechanisms. “If they succeed” the release states, “it will put them on a par with the world’s most famous green governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger”.   

Governor Irwandi of Aceh told me that he plans to visit Governor Schwarzenegger in the coming months to talk about climate change, carbon trading and biofuel projects.  He also said that I am most welcome to accompany him.

Friday: The Roundtable was over, but Dorjee and his team were still hard at work. They had to chase down each governor before they left Bali to get their signatures on a letter of agreement giving Carbon Conservation the status of “preferred supplier of carbon trading and marketing services”. Dorjee explained that he needed this document to begin the second part of his quest: raising the carbon finance. With this endorsement, he can begin meeting with wealthy suppliers and start ‘selling’ carbon credits in the three most important forest provinces in Indonesia.

Needless to say, Dorjee got all three Governors to sign the document. (Add dollar value of what agreement represents and no. of hectares of forest that will be saved…..massive)

While playing pool with his team mates, Dorjee told me that although this was a historic milestone, and a great outcome for him, the hard work now begins. He now has to meet with the leaders of the big carbon emitting countries and companies and convince them to buy carbon credits in Indonesia. Visiting Governor Schwarzenegger, in the company of his new friend and supporter, the Governor of Aceh, is now one step closer.   

John O Niles was the Science and Technical Advisor for the Coalition of Rainforest Nations, advising 15 nations in policy negotiations on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol. 

Mark Jackson is the driving force behind the project known as ‘Minding the Carbon Store’ in partnership with mining giant Rio Tinto Aluminium which saved 13,000 hectares of native vegetation in Queensland.