Megawati Highlights Disappearing Eternal Snow on Mount Grasberg, Says It Could Vanish Within Three Years

Indonesia’s 5th President Megawati Soekarnoputri has raised concerns about the impact of climate change in Indonesia, particularly the melting of the eternal snow on Mount Grasberg in Papua.

She made the remarks while receiving a visit from Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta on Friday, 28 August 2026.

“In Indonesia there is something unique. We have a mountain called Grasberg. Grasberg used to be full of snow, but now it is increasingly melting,” Megawati said at the Megawati Institute in Central Jakarta.

According to research by the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), the eternal snow on Mount Grasberg will disappear in about three years.

“And from us, from what is called our National Research and Innovation Agency, we have sent a team there,” she said.

“And this is very worrying because it is calculated that the melting is accelerating and perhaps in approximately three years the mountain will no longer have any ice,” she continued.

According to Megawati, the phenomenon is ironic because beneath the mountain there is mining activity carried out by PT Freeport.

“Yet underneath it there is Freeport, PT Freeport, which is digging a copper mine,” Megawati concluded.