She conveyed the request virtually at the closing ceremony of the 7th Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR) on Friday.
Megawati, who serves as the chair of the steering committee of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), noted that ecological disasters and crises due to climate change are expected to cause food scarcity on a global scale.
“We should prevent it (food crisis) jointly. I encourage the world to unite and cooperate to prevent the food crisis from occurring,” she said.
Ecological disasters often occur due to human activities, including the exploitation of natural resources and the existence of industries that are not environmentally friendly, the former president added.
"Uncontrolled exploitation of nature is a threat to humanity and human civilization. We are often not aware of these disasters," she said at the forum, which was attended by more than 7 thousand delegates from 193 countries.
For that reason, multi-stakeholder cooperation forums such as the GPDRR are a good opportunity for governments, non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, and business actors to work hand in hand and discuss ways to deal with humanitarian threats caused by ecological disasters, crises due to climate change, and natural disasters, she added.
Megawati also suggested that the world strengthen the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the partnership of meteorology, climatology and geophysics agencies with countries in a bid to enhance global preparedness for dealing with disasters.
"Climate forecasting is important for agriculture and disaster mitigation," she added.
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Translator: Genta Tenri, Raka Adji
Editor: Suharto
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