Yudhoyono Receives Award from UNEP

Jakarta (Antara) -- Former Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was awarded the Champion of the Earth honor on policy leadership by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) recently. This was revealed in a press release from the Indonesian Embassy in Washington received here on Saturday. The award was presented to him on November 19 in Washington DC at a ceremony that was attended by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner. Yudhoyono did not attend the ceremony but was represented by his eldest son, Major Agus Yudhoyono. In a video screened during the awarding ceremony, he apologized for his absence, stating that he was leading a meeting of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) in Seoul, South Korea, which was his duty as the president and council chair of the GGGI Assembly. Yudhoyono stated that during his tenure as the Indonesian president, he had implemented pro-environment policies, along with others that were pro-growth, pro-poor and pro-jobs. (*)