Jakarta – Indonesia can suffer economic losses of up to IDR 544 trillion (USD 36.22 billion) due to climate change if there is no immediate policy intervention amid the increasingly realised impacts of climate change.
In a written statement, the Head of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Dwikorita Karnawati emphasised that the potential economic losses occurred from 2020 to 2024.
He also urged the government to prioritise climate resilience policies to avoid potential economic losses of Rp 281.9 trillion until 2024. The BMKG in the National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) has a mandate to support improving the quality of the environment and resilience to disasters and climate.
“Based on the Ministry of Finance’s calculations, economic losses due to disasters per year are estimated to reach an average of IDR 22.8 trillion,” said Dwikorita.
According to him, the BMKG is still taking steps to mitigate and adapt to climate change, apart from the technology side. Likewise, the data and information issued by the BMKG are not only needed for natural disaster management but also for health, construction, mining energy, forestry agriculture, spatial planning, industry, tourism, transportation, defence and security, water resources, and marine fisheries.
Information on the latest climate conditions from BMKG has been used as a reference or consideration for decision-making and recommendations in the national food security monitoring system. The data and information are in the form of global climate anomalies, monitoring of climate conditions, and climate predictions. (Hartatik)
