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limate change is upon us, and we all not only have to work to reduce the impacts, but also adapt to the changes.

The real estate (property) sector has increasingly been questioned about the ever-growing need of real estate developers for new sites, and why the real estate industry cannot be more adaptive and reduce the speed of conversion of agricultural or forested land to accommodate new residential developments - a major contributor to climate change.

Not easy questions. I have to admit that real estate developments contribute significantly to the change in land use and that this affects the climate change is also probably true, although the definite and measurable answer may not be easy to calculate because of a shortage of reliable data.

In the US, real estate constitutes around 38 percent of the national CO2 emissions total, followed by transportation with 34 percent.

Throughout my professional career, I have witnessed the speed of change of land use occurring in south Jakarta (Senayan, Kemang, Pasar Minggu and Cilandak), Bandung (Dago and Pasteur) and Bali (Kuta, Seminyak, Jimbaran, Canggu and Ubud), as well as in other areas across Indonesia.

Economic development has increased demand for housing, shopping facilities, workplaces and leisure facilities, and property in general. However, interestingly, compared to other mature real estate markets in the region (such as Singapore) and more advanced markets (such as the UK, Australia and the US), to meet growing demand in Indonesia developers generally look for new greenfield sites.

Seldom do developers undertake redevelopment, restoration or repositioning projects, which all have lower environmental impacts and generate less greenhouse gas emissions than constructing new buildings on vacant land.

We have seen how the commercial area of the Old Town in North Jakarta has lost occupancy because it lacks the capital and investment it needs to remain competitive - compared to the south, west and east, where more and more new real estate developments are occupying land much-needed to absorb water, clean the air and reduce CO2 emissions.

Part of this problem revolves around the fact that it is more difficult in Indonesia to acquire existing property (income producing), or consolidate areas of smaller, not-so-well-laid-out pockets of land into sizeable sites for larger planned developments.

In the case of property ownership in the Old Town area, for example, many sites are owned by families - with owners reluctant to part with them because of strong emotional attachments, but also there is a lack of incentives for them to carry out restoration or redevelopment necessary to attract new investors/buyers who could offer attractive prices for (and potentially make better use of) their properties.

Concerning changes in land use, this has largely been caused by a deficiency or lack of a clear and consistent master plan supported by transportation infrastructure, incentives, regulations and funding allocated to land consolidation.

Therefore, the speed of the change in land use - from agricultural to residential use - can be reduced by promoting the acquisition of existing buildings or derelict areas for redevelopment.

London and Sydney have done well in redeveloping their docklands areas, turning them into bustling commercial areas. Meanwhile, Singapore has been successful in the revitalization of Clark Quay, creating a "lifestyle" and fashionable destination.

With the continuing growth of Indonesia's population and the economy, and to be sensitive and adaptive to climate change, it is not realistic to confine new developments to consolidated sites or re-development projects.

As seen around the world, including in Indonesia, a trend has emerged to reduce the CO2 emissions, pushing property developers to be "green" - in this context loosely to describing the creation of sustainable or environmentally sensitive, economically feasible and healthy places to live and work.

This relates to developers' choices of location, setting, design, use of materials, utilities and services.

In the US, a non-profit organization called the US Green Building Council (USGBC) comprising real-estate-industry participants, has been applying the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System since 1993.

This is expected to provide its members a rating system to evaluate their environmental performance. In Indonesia, similar movements by the Green Building Council of Indonesia have initiated public discussion of such issues and ways to be more environmentally responsible.

In addition to incentives for redevelopment and consolidation of land in derelict areas, regulations to promote reduction of CO2 emissions - including stricter development parameters, environmentally sensitive building codes, and other standards - must be applied.

Protecting the environment will eventually contribute positively to real estate prices, and real estate developers and operators will be able to generate higher investment returns and reduce pay-back times, which will be enough for them to compensate the extra effort and costs involved to make them more environmentally sensitive.