Environment Minister: Environmental Ethics as the Foundation for Saving Ecology from Destruction
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Environment Minister Jumhur Hidayat has stressed that environmental ethics must become a habit for society, while also serving as the final foundation in saving human civilisation from ecological destruction.
“An ecological orientation must become our collective habitus. I believe that environmental ethics is important for us and must be the last foundation to save human civilisation,” said Environment Minister Jumhur at the handover ceremony with Hanif Faisol at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) office in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Environment Minister Jumhur explained that the world is currently besieged by tremendous destructive forces, both from industrial pollution in the northern hemisphere and deforestation in the southern hemisphere.
As such, according to him, thinking about environmental ethics is a crucial instrument to address the challenges of our time.
“We must start stopping what is called serakhnomics, namely behaviour that forgets the obligation to maintain the environment,” said Environment Minister Jumhur.
Furthermore, the new Environment Minister committed to ensuring that every investment entering Indonesia complies with applicable green regulations.
He emphasised that a high respect for the earth will guarantee a smooth business climate in the future without causing catastrophic impacts for future generations.
Mohammad Jumhur Hidayat was inaugurated by President Prabowo Subianto as the Environment Minister in the Red and White Cabinet, replacing Hanif Faisol Nurofiq on Monday (27/4). On the same day, Hanif Faisol Nurofiq was also inaugurated as Deputy Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs.
Jumhur, born in February 1968 in Bandung, West Java, is an activist who has fought for workers’ and labourers’ rights. He studied Physics Engineering at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).
He also continued his studies at the National University, then pursued a Master’s programme at the University of Indonesia in Sociology.
In January 2007, he was appointed as Head of the National Agency for Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI) by the 6th President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and completed his term on 11 March 2014. BNP2TKI is now known as the Ministry of Protection for Indonesian Migrant Workers (KP2MI).