The projection of climate change in Indonesia can be said to be unfavorable, as global changes will also have implications for IndonesiaJakarta (ANTARA) - Environmental Director of the Ministry of National Development Planning/ National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) Medrilzam cautioned that Indonesia could incur losses to the tune of nearly Rp544 trillion by 2024 on account of climate change.
"The projection of climate change in Indonesia can be said to be unfavorable, as global changes will also have implications for Indonesia," Medrilzam stated during the "Green Economy Transition" webinar, Thursday.
Medrilzam cited an example of an increase in the earth's temperature that can cause high waves, thereby increasing the vulnerability of people living along the coast to disasters.
In addition, changes in the earth's temperature can also cause extreme weather, both rain and extreme drought, which can cause floods, landslides, and forest fires.
"This will certainly have an impact on the productivity of related sectors, such as agriculture. Rice production will decline," Medrilzam noted.
In his presentation, Medrilzam noted that the impact of climate change on the agricultural sector had the potential to cause losses of up to Rp78 trillion in 2024.
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Meanwhile, the impact of climate change on the coastal marine sector will reach Rp408 trillion in 2024, of which losses were estimated to be caused by high-impact La Nina storms in the last five years.
The water sector is also estimated to suffer losses of Rp24 trillion in 2024 due to climate change, while the health sector is estimated to incur Rp31 trillion in losses.
"According to friends from the BNPB (National Disaster Mitigation Agency), almost 99 percent in the natural disasters that struck Indonesia in 2020 are related to hydrometeorology (natural factors). Other disasters, such as tectonic and volcanic, are minor," he noted.
The Environment and Forestry Ministry had earlier pointed to an increase in the area of forest and land burnt during the January-November 2021 period to reach 353,222 hectares, an increase from 296,942 hectares in 2020.
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"There was a slight increase. This increase occurred in several provinces and in the two main provinces. These forest fires occurred outside forest areas and in non-mineral areas,” Director General of Climate Change Control at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry Laksmi Dwanthi stated during the 2021 End of Year Reflection here, Thursday.
According to the Environment and Forestry Ministry’s data, the burnt forest and land areas were mainly located in the provinces of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) and East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).
The area of forest and land burnt in NTB in 2020 had reached 29,157 hectares and expanded to 100,908 hectares in 2021.
In NTT Province, the area of forest and land burnt reached 114,719 hectares in 2020 and increased to 137,297 hectares in 2021.
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Dwanthi later noted that the area of forest and land burnt in 2021 had reduced by 1,547,598 hectares, or 87 percent, as compared to the area of forest and land burnt in 2014.
In addition, the smoke arising from forest and land fires that occurred in 2020 and 2021 did not spread across national borders unlike the 2019 forest fire in Sumatra and Kalimantan in which the haze reached Malaysia and Singapore, she noted.
Dwanthi emphasized that the government should make efforts to prevent and control fires, especially in areas that are frequently prone to them.
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Translator: Sanya D, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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