Govt warned of climate change impacts

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Researchers graduating from Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) have called on the government to pay serious attention to a range of issues to help Indonesia better deal with the devastating impacts of globally-anticipated climate change.

The experts said they would coordinate with the Ministry of Environment to particularly include those living below the poverty line into the agenda for the 13th Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Conventions on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to be held in December in Bali

Endra Saleh Atmawidjaja is an urban expert from ITB and said the government should focus more on urban planning and development, rather than better managing waste to prevent environmental damage.

"Some 30 percent of city land should be used as green public space," Endra said.

"Malls only become artificial public space ... not able to absorb water, (as) parks do."

The various concepts by the researchers would be presented at the Bali conference.

Their research and various ideas are expected to support efforts to minimize the effects of climate change on developing countries due to the overuse of oil, gas and coal.

The implementation of agreements on this issue, like the Kyoto Protocol and the UNFCCC, has been slow, with some developed countries having refused to sacrifice industry to push down levels of green house gas emissions.

Irendra Radjawali is a tropical marine ecology expert and said, "The poor will suffer most ... they don't have the power to adapt to the changes affecting their lives".

"The right preventive actions are needed and research is an important tool ... to predict possible disasters," Irendra said.

And Endra said, "We strongly suggest providing complete data for the vulnerability index to measure the estimations precisely".

Dida Gardera, spokesman for the Ministry of Environment said, "By 2050, the increasing amount of sea water due to global warming is expected to inundate 2,000 islands in Indonesia".

Endra said, "By using this index, we will be able to figure out which islands will be inundated first, then we will prepare the right actions for that".

The vulnerability index, Endra said, was also expected to able to identify different approaches in different sectors.

"The anticipation for prevention in urban areas will differ from that in rural areas," he said.

One of the major concerns about the effects of global warming is the increasing level of urbanization.

Climate changes will decrease supplies of clean water as well as accelerate the loss of land mass, which would force rural people to relocate to urban areas.

Endra said this issue would expand political instability and lead to the decline of foreign investment in Indonesia. (rff)