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ozens of representatives from archipelagic nations gathered in Jakarta on Tuesday, raising awareness for the need to cooperate in the face of climate change.

In the first such forum ever, the representatives, including from the United Kingdom, the Philippines, New Zealand, Fiji and host Indonesia, were expected to suggest strategic measures to prepare for the global phenomenon.

“Indonesia came up with this initiative, to form an archipelagic and island states conference as a venue for all of us to discuss our common challenges and formulize the cooperation,” Arif Havas Oegroseno, a deputy in the Office of the Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister, said in his opening speech at the two-day forum.

Arif claimed that Indonesia, as the world’s largest archipelagic nation with more than 17,000 islands and about 54,720 kilometers of coastlines, had established a preparation system for mitigating the effects of climate change through the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) and the Navy’s Hydro-Oceanography Center (PushidrosAL). He did not reveal the details of the system.

Arif said the recent COP23 climate meeting in Bonn, Germany, inspired a lesson on the urgent need for archipelagic states to also work together to address international ocean issues. The discussions in Bonn spurred governments to keep the 2015 global agreement to tackle climate change on track despite United States President Donald Trump having previously announced his country would pull out of the Paris Accord.

The governments of almost 200 nations have agreed to launch a process in 2018 to start reviewing existing plans to limit greenhouse gas emissions as part of a long-term effort. A global fund was also set up under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The institution allocated US$500 million for countries to fund their forest recovery and preservation programs.

Arif said Indonesia welcomed the funding initiative as it would help countries where the main climate actions were focused on the forestry sector expand their efforts into the maritime sphere.

He said the forum would also establish a trust fund as a mechanism to meet sustainable development targets through global financing of projects, known as the Multi-Donor Global Trust Fund. It is also expected to leverage investment in archipelagic and small island nations, providing them more opportunity to grow sustainably.

Christophe Bahuet, UNDP Indonesia country director, said his institution fully supports the initiative and would help manage the fund so it would be used effectively to aid in the mitigation of the effects of climate change.

“The trust fund will be set up after the event and then we will see the proposals of the participants’ projects. UNDP will operate the grants,” he continued.

After Tuesday’s meeting, the delegates made site visits to several agencies in Indonesia that have been conducting programs to address ocean issues, especially climate change adaptation and developing marine cadastres.

“Tomorrow, based on our site visit, we will invite each delegate to deliver a brief general statement and to sum up the discussion,” Arif added.

Earlier, in the UN Ocean Conference, the Indonesian government also called on the archipelagic nations to cooperate in handling climate change effects as they had the same burdens and challenges.

Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan, who attended the meeting held in New York in June, proposed holding regular meetings to discuss the issues and conducting mutual trainings and exercises in managing the oceans.

Luhut suggested the involvement of government officials, scientists, private sector playerss and civic societies to discuss the issues and find solutions to tackle the common problems of rising sea levels and natural disasters related to climate change.