Indonesia and Pacific Nations Discuss Efforts to Save Coastal Communities

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Deputy Minister of Environment (Wamen LH) Diaz Hendropriyono conducted bilateral meetings with several Pacific island nations to discuss efforts to save communities and islands threatened by submersion due to rising sea levels caused by climate change.

According to a statement received in Jakarta on Tuesday, Wamen LH, who also serves as Deputy Head of the Environmental Control Agency (BPLH), met on the sidelines of the Berlin Climate Mobility Forum (BCMF) 2026 with senior officials from Pacific Ocean island states. These included President of Palau Surangel S. Whipps Jr., Governor-General of Tuvalu Tofiga Vaevalu Falani, Minister of Climate Change, Environment and Energy of the Maldives Ali Shareef, and the Chair of the Environmental Protection Committee under the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan Sheralizoda Bahodur Ahmadjon.

“Our efforts at the BCMF forum aim to ensure that adaptation and mobility solutions protect our communities. Climate mobility is ultimately about people, their homes, livelihoods, culture, and their futures. Our shared responsibility is to ensure that no community is left without options, protection, or hope,” said Wamen Diaz.

Wamen Diaz subsequently met with South Africa’s Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Willem Abraham Stephanus Aucamp. Both countries affirmed the importance of collaboration in finding joint solutions to address and adapt to various issues caused by climate change.

The Indonesian Ministry of Environment/Environmental Control Agency also met with Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment. Wamen Diaz noted that the forum represented the best momentum to advance the climate mobility agenda ahead of the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Wamen Diaz assessed that the issue of climate mobility requires broader attention, not only for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) but also for large archipelagic nations like Indonesia, so that both can unite in facing the same threat.

The BCMF forum, held on 18-19 June 2026, aims to raise awareness of climate mobility triggered by the climate crisis, where communities are threatened with having to relocate and leave their original homes.