Neighbors Indonesia and Australia have offered support for one another as they face natural disasters that have been exacerbated by the impacts of climate change.

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi hosted on Monday the Charge d'Affaires of the Australian Embassy at her office in Jakarta to convey the nation’s deepest condolences and sympathies for the ongoing bushfires sweeping across many parts of Australia.

“Indonesia is ready to assist [Australia] in this time of need,” she wrote on Twitter on Monday.

During a Christmas event late Monday, Retno said the gesture of solidarity aimed to highlight the friendship between Indonesia and Australia.

“If there is anything Indonesia can do to help deal with the fires, we will be happy to do so,” she said.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has reportedly been in touch with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison since Dec. 23 to offer help, with officials indicating that details would emerge during Retno’s annual policy speech on Wednesday.

As the Indonesian capital and its satellite cities were swept up last week by some of the most intense rainfall and flooding to have occurred in over a decade, much of the Australian landscape was being razed by bushfires.

Twenty-five people have died since the start of the disaster in September, more than 1,800 homes have been destroyed and some 8 million hectares have burned, an area the size of Ireland or South Carolina, AFP reports.

Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has said that the recent flooding was one of the worst on record, killing 66 people in Greater Jakarta alone.

Scientists have called on the public to be better prepared for future disasters as extreme weather might become “a new normal”.

Their Australian counterparts, on the other hand, have pointed to climate change as a key factor in the spread of destructive wildfires, which critics say the government in Canberra has largely played down.

"One of the key drivers of fire intensity, fire spread rates and fire area is temperature. And in Australia, we've just experienced record high temperatures,” said Mark Howden, director of the Climate Change Institute at Australian National University, as quoted by Reuters.

Smoke from the fires has been spotted more than 12,000 kilometers away in Chile and Argentina, weather authorities in the South American countries have said.

The cost of the disaster is still not clear, but the Insurance Council of Australia said claims worth A$700 million (US$485 million) had already been filed and the figure was expected to climb significantly. The government has earmarked an initial A$2 billion for a national recovery fund to help devastated communities.

Other countries have also chipped in for disaster relief. French President Emmanuel Macron said he had spoken to Morrison on Sunday to offer aid in dealing with the devastating bushfires, Reuters reports.

New Zealand will send three helicopters and crew and two army combat engineer sections to Australia as part of additional support for wildfire-fighting efforts, Defense Minister Ron Mark was quoted by Bloomberg as saying.

Pacific countries have also pledged aid and offered support to Australia, with several leaders taking to social media to offer thoughts and prayers, as well as emergency funding and personnel, in light of the ongoing crisis.

In a Facebook post, Vanuatu's acting prime minister, Jotham Napat, said the government would commit 20 million vatus (almost $250,000) "to assist bushfire victims in Australia".

"As a Pacific neighbor and friend, we have watched as Australia has been devastated by these horrific bushfires," he wrote. "We offer whatever assistance we can in this time of need, as Australia has always done in ours."

Meanwhile, Papua New Guinea has offered 1,000 personnel, including soldiers and firefighters, who "stand ready to be deployed" at Morrison's invitation.

"Papua New Guinea conveys our sympathies, sorrow and grief in your moment of pain," Prime Minister James Marape wrote on Facebook. "Australia is the closest friend of PNG and is always the first in PNG in our times of adversities and we offer our hearts and our hands to you in this time of fire-induced tragedies."

Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, who is an outspoken climate activist, also offered words of support on social media. (tjs)

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