El Niño "Godzilla" 2026 Looms, Puan: Its Impact Could Strike the People's Kitchens
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - House of Representatives Speaker Puan Maharani has warned of the threat from the extreme El Niño phenomenon or “Godzilla” in 2026, which has the potential to impact people’s lives, particularly in terms of daily needs.
“When production is disrupted in main areas, those affected are not only the agricultural sector, but also the household kitchens of the public, which will first feel the price increases before the state has a chance to explain the situation,” Puan stated in her official remarks on Tuesday (7/4/2026).
She assessed that the strong-intensity El Niño phenomenon must be anticipated seriously because its impacts are felt most quickly by vulnerable groups, such as small farmers, daily workers, and low-income households.
“Especially when the impacts are felt most quickly by groups with the narrowest room to manoeuvre,” she said.
This is because those areas are the national food production centres that determine the stability of supply and prices in various regions.
Therefore, this PDI-P politician called on the government to immediately prepare effective anticipatory steps to minimise the impact of El Niño on public welfare.
“Therefore, the government across various agencies must be able to prepare an effective system as a form of anticipation to ensure that the extreme El Niño does not significantly affect public welfare,” she concluded.
It was previously reported that the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) predicts an El Niño phenomenon with strong intensity or “Godzilla” will occur in 2026.
The combination of the two has the potential to trigger a longer and drier dry season in several regions of Indonesia.
The impacts are not only on the weather, but also on the food and environmental sectors.
A researcher from BRIN’s Climate and Atmosphere Research Centre, Prof. Erma Yulihastin, reminded the government to anticipate the various impacts arising from the phenomenon.
“Therefore, the government needs to be wary of the drought impacts that could threaten the national granary in the north coast of Java region. In addition, the impacts of forest and land fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra must also be mitigated,” she explained, quoted from a post on the @brin_indonesia Instagram account on Thursday (19/3/2026).
“However, at the same time, the government should also prepare strategies to handle excess rainfall in the Sulawesi-Halmahera-Maluku region and its impacts on floods and landslides,” she added.