Sustainability
The relationship between infrastructure and environment is naturally occurring and raises the almost philosophical question of connection with nature: predation or harmony, substitution or integration?
Most people, especially in the so-called developed countries where things have been done quite aggressively (for example when hypermarkets replaced fields with huge concrete buildings and tarred parking lots), are aware that we have gone too far and we are now suffering the consequences of risky decisions (building housing estates in river beds).
In developing countries, there is still time to create a balance, as can be seen in Ipsos Global Trends: 80% of Indonesian people agree with the statement that “if we don’t change our habits very quickly, we are heading for an environmental disaster” and climate change is a top three concern for 27% of them (vs. 19% worldwide).
While global warming is a particular worry, the environment extends beyond just the climate. There is a link between the environment, the worsening of inequalities (poverty and social inequities concern 44% of Indonesians, the highest among the 29 countries included in Ipsos’ What Worries the World survey), health, and education. These issues are increasingly intersectional and areas where environmental policies are more entwined with socio-economic policies could create surprises.>
In any case, one of the specificities of the Indonesian presidential election is that voters simultaneously choose the President, Vice President, and Members. It should also be noted that all countries are not equally impacted by climate change, some are more exposed than others, and crucially, they do not all have the same means to manage it according to their level of development.
Retno Marsudi, the Foreign Minister, emphasised this point during the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit at the UN Headquarters in New York: “There is no other choice, the world has to create an environment that is conducive for the developing countries to grow and to make a leap in their development. Trade discrimination must stop. Developing countries must be given the opportunity to downstream their industries”.
Climate change has very tangible consequences for people
Four examples illustrate this:
- Fishermen are becoming poorer for several reasons: the sea is increasingly dangerous and fish are becoming scarcer. The National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB) recorded 1,057 extreme weather events in the archipelago’s waters in 2022. Consequently, many traditional fishermen can no longer go to sea, according to a paper by Paris Ridwanuddin, campaign director of Walhi, the largest Indonesian environmental organisation. It should also be noted that 251 fishermen died at sea in 2020, three times more than ten years ago. As for schools of fish, they re-locate due to rising temperatures or become scarcer because the amount of oxygen in the water decreases.
- Some rural regions and coastal villages are being swallowed by rising tides, exacerbating coastal erosion and excessive extraction of groundwater such as in Timbulsloko - Demak, causing rice fields to disappear with the understood impact on the environment, fauna, flora, and of course, farmers’ income. As is well-known, Jakarta is not immune, with 20% of the city’s 30 million inhabitants living below sea level, a proportion that could almost double by 2050 according to a study conducted by researchers from the Bandung Institute of Technology. Generally speaking, “the most affected groups are poor households living in rural areas. Some studies suggest that older people adapt more slowly and less efficiently to climate variations than other vulnerable groups. Others also suggest that households headed by women might have limited capacity to increase resilience to climate uncertainties”. Just like for the fishermen, the environment is the factor that makes Indonesians poorer.
- Women are particularly threatened by precarity because of socially constructed gender roles that tie them to domestic roles, including cooking, washing, taking care of children, etc. The more that access to potable water gets complex and limited, the more expensive it will get. This is already visible: 1 litre of water costs IDR 20,000, or US$ 1.5, which is expensive for many households, while the quality of water is decreasing, especially in north Jakarta and other coastal cities. This puts women further at risk to domestic violence, when domestic provisions becoming more difficult.
- In big cities, as highlighted in the reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, global warming will also impact people’s lives with temperatures hard to endure (and dangerous for seniors and children). It will raise question about the sustainability of infrastructure, increase the risks for energy supply, elevate needs for air conditioning and water, with a “thermal stress” that necessitates mitigating urban heat islands in suburbs and cities.
- The problem of water or air pollution, particularly in Jakarta, became quite tangible in August 2023 and illustrates why a pro-environmental policy must be quickly developed, from energy transition to sustainable transportation. Sustainable transportation is a particular challenge in most cities in Indonesia as public transport is not commonly and equally available. Thus, working on the infrastructure development and provisions, such as providing buses, elevated and underground metros, interconnections, and encouraging people to use public transport because they are cheaper and reduce air pollution are both essential.
- The significance of overcoming these challenges merits the environment, society and the government working together to solve this problem, to have a global sustainable policy.
Climate change, an opportunity to innovate and hold responsible.
The automobile fleet represents a first opportunity, as Indonesia wishes to become the SEA hub in a context where the automotive industry has significantly contributed to its economic growth, contributing 11% of the GDP in 2022. The production of electric vehicles (cars and motorcycles) is the challenge to tackle to deal with climate issues
On the industrial level, Indonesia has the means, being the world’s largest nickel producer with others like the Philippines and Russia on top (its nickel reserves account for 24% of the world’s total, making it the world’s largest source of the commodity). But on the personal financial level, people must be supported with nudging or assistance mechanisms, such as subsidies, to switch to public transportation.
Finally, there is the issue of battery life and recharge infrastructure. One last word on the current situation, the extractive industry remains the top source concerning resource production and the biggest challenge is shifting from carbon energy to green energy.
Equipment, renovation, and construction represent a second opportunity, with changes, for instance more solar panels or sensors in energy-consuming buildings, schools, hospitals, etc., requiring both financial means and real coordination between national, regional, and local authorities.
The energy recovery from organic and non-organic waste at a household level is a third opportunity related to fighting the effects of climate change. It involves capturing and valuing the energy produced during waste treatment in the form of heat, electricity, fuel. Two types of energy recovery can be differentiated: recovery through thermal treatment (incineration, co-incineration, pyrolysis, and gasification) and the recovery of biogas especially from landfill facilities and the digestion of organic waste.
Responsibility is also part of the challenge, to make people aware of their part in pollution and it starts with children, with education teaching them to take care of the world by taking care of their own waste
Sustainability, Pricing & Marketing
Even though environment is a serious concern, it is not a decisive marketing argument so that the price can be raised under the pretence that the packaging is “green and environment-friendly”, recycled, or otherwise. Given the context, consumers will compare prices if they buy from mass retailers, and traditional networks (markets, grocery stores, etc.) predominantly sell in bulk or cheap local products and the question does not arise.
Climate Change and Political Projects
Sustainability is a very important issue for the future and for the next generation because what we have done now with at the present will determine their future. Younger generations are more concerned than older ones about global warming and what can be done to limit it, small daily actions, not wasting, recycling, etc. Already, the Director of Environmental Partnerships at the Directorate General of Social Forestry of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF) Jo Kumala Dewi highlighted their importance and the necessity to incorporate various programs targeting youth into the plans of the MoEF. “Young people must be the main actors. They must be the main ingredient in climate change issues” she said.
Different presidential candidates know that Generation Z and Millennials represent 60% of the Indonesian population and that the ability to address their concerns is decisive. Environment, education, access to employment, and health are the four most important subjects for them, and sustainability encapsulates all of them.
There is a change in mindset among Indonesians, before the primary goal was to make money and be rich. They are not giving up on it, but other problems have become more critical, the lack of jobs and the inequalities between the rich and the poor.
Sources:
https://www.ipsos.com/en/global-trends
https://www.ipsos.com/en/what-worries-world
https://statistik.kkp.go.id/home.php?m=nelayan&i=6
www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_SYR_SPM.pdf
https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202306/13/WS6487cad8a31033ad3f7bbf3d.html