Bappenas head Suharso Monoarfa said the deals, signed on Tuesday, showed that the four provinces were stepping up their efforts toward reducing emissions while growing their economies.

He said climate change had led to greater intensity of hydrometeorological disasters in the country. Citing Bappenas’ estimate, he said the country could lose around Rp 544 trillion (US$35.54 billion) between 2020 and 2024 due to climate change impacts when the country was still trying to escape the middle-income trap.

“We at Bappenas recognized that climate change and economic growth are two interconnected and intertwined issues,” Suharso said on Tuesday in Jakarta.

“Bappenas alone cannot tackle both [issues], so we urge all stakeholders, especially regional heads, to tackle these two issues at the same time,” he added.

North Sumatra, Maluku, Bengkulu and West Nusa Tenggara are the latest provinces since 2019 to sign agreements with Bappenas to help them design low-carbon and climate resilient development plans, following in the footsteps of their seven peers: Bali, Riau, South Sulawesi, Central Java, West Java, Papua and West Papua.

Bappenas environmental affairs director Medrilzam said regional development plans often did not take climate change into account, leaving regional industries neglectful of the impacts of the pollution they produced and residents with environmentally unfriendly transportation options.