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Indonesian public figures, celebs push for climate action
Indonesian public figures are calling on authorities to take action on climate change and spare the nation's future generations from environmental ruin.
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Indonesian celebrities call for climate action to safeguard the future of Indonesia. (Youtube screenshot of FPCI channel/FPCI Youtube)
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gaggle of Indonesia’s A-list celebrities and public figures banded together on Monday to call on the government to “save the golden centennial” that Indonesia will celebrate in 2045 from the threat of the climate crisis.
In conjunction with the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI), household names such as former trade minister Gita Wirjawan, actor Reza Rahadian, actress Dian Sastrowardoyo and lawmaker Krisdayanti urged the relevant authorities and the wider community to be more aware of the threat that climate change poses to many aspects of the life of the Indonesian people.
“By its centenary, I want us all to live in an Indonesia that remains true to Pancasila; one that is modern, advanced and prosperous; green, just and safe; free of corruption, democratic and of course, united,” the celebrities said in a video collage uploaded by the FPCI.
Other celebrities involved include Chicco Jerikho, Julie Estelle, Wulan Guritno and many more.
The video message also serves as a love letter to “Golden Indonesia” – a moniker for the future generation who will inherit the country in 2045 when the nation turns 100 – in the hope that they will not have to live under the threat of global warming.
FPCI founder and former Indonesian ambassador to the United States, Dino Patti Djalal, warned that climate change might even be more dangerous for future generations than the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“We might be the last generation living in the world under normal weather,” he said at a virtual press conference.
The FPCI also announced an online petition urging the relevant authorities to set Indonesia’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction target to 50 percent by 2030 and zero by 2050.
The Change.org petition, which had gathered more than 12,500 pledges as of Monday afternoon, demands that Indonesia implements this ambitious target in its national and regional intersectional development programs and create greener economic plans in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read also: Jokowi’s call for global climate action rings hollow, environmentalists say
For its nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Climate Agreement, which underpins efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions and hold global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius for this century, Indonesia has pledged to keep emissions below 29 percent by 2030, or up to 41 percent with international assistance.
But according to the accord’s ratchet mechanism, every party that signed up to the Paris Agreement has to submit increasingly ambitious NDCs every five years.
According to the FPCI, an increase of 3 or 4 degrees Celsius in the global temperature could severely reduce global food and fresh water supplies, increase the risk of diseases and natural disasters, cause a rise in seawater levels, open more doors to extinction and environmental conflict. The organization warns that if Indonesia does not take action now, the current young generation will live their old life in 2045 on a permanently destroyed planet.
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has warned that the extreme weather that has hit Indonesia in the past few years is the result of climate change.
Head of the BMKG Dwikorita Karnawati has warned that if the country fails to control greenhouse emissions from the use of fossil fuels in the transportation and industry sectors, Indonesia is likely to see a 4-degree Celsius increase in temperature, tribunnews.com reports.
