Jakarta (Greeners) – Post Paris Agreement ratification into the law, Indonesia is obligated to implement climate change adaptation and mitigation programs at local levels. Unfortunately, the law was met with lack of awareness on the importance of these programs in provincial administration.
Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya said that hard works await in 2017 in related to climate change issue is the implementation. She said that the implementation would be meaningless if there’s no commitment from local government. Hence, serious attention from local government is crucial for climate change implementation to meet its targets.
“Implementing [results] of COP is quite difficult at local levels, especially that climate change involves lifestyle. Not all regions understand about it [the issue]. However, he have mapped out which provinces with advance [understanding] on climate change issues. We will encourage them to become pilot provinces,” she said to Greeners, in Jakarta, on Friday(06/12).
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Director General of Climate Change Control, Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Nur Masripatin, said that COP 22 Morocco was aimed to implement Paris Agreement. Consequently, local governments need to include adaptation and mitigation elements in their regional development planning. Climate change adaptation, said Masripatin, was incorporated in the disaster risk reduction programs.
“Local governments need to start to be serious in implementing adaptation program. Otherwise, we could not achieve Indonesia’s emission target. Moreover, adaptation and disaster risk reduction are inseparable,” she added.
Both programs, she said, were crucial and must become everyone’s interests to set up resilient. At the same time, protecting environment and social economy capacity and quality.
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Masripatin said that international discussion and agreement would not mean anything without real actions at local level. So, regional as stakeholder which will reap the impacts of climate change must aware on the importance of adaptation and mitigation.
Budi Sulistyono, representative of Indonesia’s District Government Association (Apkasi) said that not all local leaders have been implementing climate change mitigation and adaptation, especially on disaster risk reduction.
“Currently, there’s rivalry between local governments to attract investors to their regions which means they would facilitate investors’ demands, including occupying green open space. Meanwhile, they’re suppose to be consequent in spatial planning. It does not happen that way, what investors want, they got,” said Sulistyono.
Reports by Danny Kosasih
22 Des 2023 
