Jakarta – The government is encouraging alternative climate financing through international cooperation, such as Climate Resilient and Inclusive Cities (CRIC), a programme partially funded by the European Union that is focused on building climate resilience in Southeast Asian cities.
The Ministry’s Director General of Territorial Administration, Safrizal ZA, in an official statement at the Climate Resilience and Innovation Forum (CRIF) 2025 forum on Wednesday, 21 May, said that the magnitude of climate change challenges—ranging from hydrometeorological disasters and sea level rise to the threat of extreme drought—demands much greater funding than is currently available.
According to him, the portion of the state budget dedicated to climate change is still relatively low, even though this issue is one of the national priorities in the National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) 2025-2029. The central government allocates only 4.3 per cent of the state budget for climate-related funding, or an average of around Rp 102.65 trillion per year.
“CRIC is one of our strategic approaches to address the limitations of climate funding through partnerships and strengthening local capacity,” said Safrizal.
“Of course, we hope the climate change budget can continue increasing. Don’t stop at 4.3 per cent. In fact, we encourage local governments through the APBD to also make a greater contribution,” he said.
10 cities are CRIC locations, Samarinda is characterised by multiple risks
In Indonesia, CRIC is run in 10 cities: Pekanbaru, Bandar Lampung, Pangkal Pinang, Cirebon, Mataram, Banjarmasin, Samarinda, Gorontalo, Kupang and Ternate. One city of grave concern is Samarinda, which faces extreme climate challenges in the form of prolonged droughts and recurrent floods.
“Samarinda is a complex case. On the one hand, the dry season is extreme, but in the rainy season, the flooding is extraordinary. This is a result of massive land conversion, weak flood control systems, and also a lack of public awareness,” Safrizal explained.
He also highlighted the rampant illegal land burning, exacerbating the city’s environmental vulnerability.
Through the CRIC programme, the Ministry of Home Affairs and international partners provided several strategic recommendations for participating city governments. For Samarinda, Safrizal revealed five main points. Firstly, internal resource capacity building is carried out regularly and structured.
Second, continuous evaluation and monitoring to ensure the effectiveness of adaptation measures and conformity with the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Third, investment in disaster-resilient infrastructure, especially drainage systems and restoration of affected areas. Fourth, climate-based education aims to raise individual awareness from an early age. Fifth, policies that favour vulnerable groups, including women, children, and the poor, who are more susceptible to the impacts of the climate crisis.
“Accurate data is essential. We need a sophisticated data communication system because there is still a lot of unsynchronised data. We need to keep improving this,” he said.
Safrizal emphasised that climate change adaptation cannot rely solely on the central government. The participation of local governments, academics, civil society, and the private sector is crucial to ensure long-term success.
“Climate resilience cannot be built from the top. Cities must be the main actors of change, and programmes like CRIC are concrete examples of how local capacity is strengthened through global collaboration,” he concluded. (Hartatik)
Banner photo: Image generated by OpenAI’s DALL·E via ChatGPT (2024)
