Indonesia Already in Climate Crisis Phase, UGM Expert Warns of Dire Consequences

Indonesia has entered a phase of real climate crisis, marked by increasingly severe impacts of climate change. This assessment follows the recording of the hottest years in modern history and a rise in extreme weather events. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has warned that the global average temperature could temporarily exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels within the next few years, heightening risks of extreme weather, drought, floods, and disruptions to food and health sectors. Emilya Nurjani, a lecturer in the Department of Environmental Geography at UGM, stated that these developments indicate Indonesia is already in a climate crisis requiring rapid and integrated handling. “The phenomenon of climate change occurring in Indonesia has caused greater impacts and disruptions to human life, so it can be called a climate crisis because it requires immediate action,” Emilya said. She noted that the world has actually agreed to limit the global temperature rise to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius through the Paris Agreement in 2015, but a decade later, this target has not been achieved. The continued rise in Earth’s temperature proves that efforts to reduce carbon emissions by countries worldwide have not been able to significantly curb the rate of global warming. According to Emilya, rising air temperatures increase water demand and accelerate evaporation, thereby increasing the risk of drought. Simultaneously, increasingly unpredictable rainfall patterns and higher intensity of extreme rain enlarge the potential for floods, landslides, strong winds, and high waves. This directly affects various sectors of life, especially agriculture, which faces changes in planting patterns, increased risk of crop failure, re-emergence of pest attacks, and decreased productivity. In the short term, extreme climate change can increase public health disruptions, water and energy needs, and reduce agricultural productivity. In the long term, the threats are more complex, ranging from weakening food and water resource security, ecosystem damage, rising sea levels, to greater social and economic losses. Emilya stressed that climate change risk aspects must be an important part of the preparation of Regional Spatial Plans (RTRW) and Detailed Spatial Plans (RDTR). Development that ignores environmental carrying capacity can increase carbon emissions while reducing nature’s ability to absorb carbon, potentially worsening the urban heat island phenomenon, reducing water absorption, and increasing flood risk due to forest conversion, unplanned urbanisation, and development in disaster-prone areas. She encouraged spatial governance based on environmental carrying capacity by integrating climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies, as well as promoting nature-based solutions through the development of blue and green infrastructure to enhance regional resilience to current climate impacts. To face these challenges, Emilya stated the importance of collaboration between the government, academia, the business sector, and the community through mitigation and adaptation measures, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions through decarbonisation, expanding the use of renewable energy, rehabilitating mangrove and peatland ecosystems, building water storage infrastructure such as reservoirs, and improving climate literacy and community capacity to face disaster risks.