Indonesian President Calls for Global Steps to Address the Impact of Climate Change

Jakarta, MINA – President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo (Jokowi) calls for a number of extraordinary steps for efforts to address the global impact of climate change. According to him, the big impact of these changes is very real.

“The climate impacts are very real before us. Especially for archipelagic countries like Indonesia, ” said the President as quoted from the website of the Cabinet Secretariat of the Republic of Indonesian on Wednesday.

Jokowi’s statement was conveyed virtually at the 2021 Climate Adaptation Summit (CAST) which took place on Monday.

According to him, changes in the climate cycle that occur make farmers and fishermen in Indonesia have to adapt. Rising sea levels also require coastal and small island populations to struggle to survive.

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic that has hit at least 215 countries in the world, including Indonesia, has made these challenges even more complex and severe. “For that, we must take extraordinary steps,” said the President.

The first extraordinary step to take is to ensure that all countries meet their national contributions to tackling climate change (Nationally Determined Contribution/NDC).

“Indonesia has updated the NDC to increase resilience and adaptation capacity,” he added.

Second, President Joko Widodo said that all the potential of the community must be mobilized to jointly raise awareness in dealing with and taking action related to the impacts of climate change that will inevitably occur in the future.

“Indonesia involves the community to control climate change through the Climate Village program, which covers 20 thousand villages in 2024,” said the President.

Third, the Head of State also called for strengthening global partnerships. Indonesia itself is prioritizing capacity building cooperation in dealing with climate change for countries in the Pacific region.

“Of course, developed countries must fulfill their commitments,” he said.

Meanwhile, the fourth, Indonesia invites all countries to continue green development in order to make a better world. The President really hopes that the 2021 CAS Summit will have an impact on increasing world climate action through solidarity, collaboration and global collective leadership, as well as overseeing the details of its implementation in each country.

The CAS Summit is a global summit to accelerate and enhance global efforts to adapt society and economy to the impacts of climate change in the future. This year, the CAS Summit was held online with the Netherlands acting as host and supported by 22 countries including Indonesia.

The summit was attended by, among others, UN Secretary General António Guterres, Co-Chair of the Global Commission on Adaptation Ban Ki-moon, leaders of a number of international economic and development institutions, and meeting participants consisting of 22 heads of state or government. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)