Central Java Provincial Government Explores Cooperation With Britain, Governor Ganjar Pranowo: They Are Concerned About Climate Change

Central Java Governor, Ganjar Pranowo. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Central Java Provincial Government is exploring cooperation in the field of renewable energy with the British government.

"They are also interested in cooperation in the energy sector, especially in renewable energy. Then infrastructure, trade, so I offered an industrial area in Batang, whose incentives are also quite good, hopefully, it can be implemented or worked on", Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo said after a virtual discussion with the British Ambassador to Indonesia and Timor Leste Owen Jenkins in Semarang, quoted from Antara, Tuesday, April 27.

Several things that were the focus of discussion were related to cooperation in the fields of education, energy, infrastructure, industry, and how to deal with COVID-19 in Central Java. According to Ganjar, Central Java and England have the same concern in terms of world climate change.

In the discussion, Ganjar told how the condition of Central Java, which does not have many forests, and the northern coastal areas which are experiencing land subsidence, as well as the waste problems that have arisen due to industrialization.

Some of these things have become a concern so that they have begun to be promoted and socialized so that people will take care of nature and care about processing waste properly.

"We both talk that we have a common agenda or concern for climate change. So this 'global climate change' is a real concern of the British government. We also pay attention, so that in the future we will work on industry and technology or choose which one should be more environmentally friendly. These are some experiences that we discuss and share", he said.

Ganjar added that the British Embassy also expressed his appreciation to the people of Central Java who were relatively concerned about the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this regard, Ganjar explained how community-based management is promoted and the patterns of mobilizing communities in these communities are relatively effective and quite helpful in dealing with pandemics.

"If later we want to follow up, it could be that later in technology regarding health we will invite cooperation in the pharmaceutical sector and so on or industrial investment in the field of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, of course, this will greatly benefit both countries, especially those in Indonesia in Central Java", he said.

Meanwhile, the British Ambassador to Indonesia and Timor Leste Owen Jenkins said that the opportunity for cooperation in the renewable energy sector was quite large, especially since Central Java already had big ambitions to use renewable energy such as solar panels.

The use of renewable energy is also in line with efforts to reduce pollution so that the earth is maintained.

"We know that Governor Ganjar has ambitions with this, the first province to try to use solar panels. We have also done a lot of work in the area of sustainable development. This is an ambition and the potential for further and long-term cooperation between Britain and Central Java", he said during the discussion.