President Jokowi Orders BMKG To Completely Identify Climate Risks

President Joko Widodo (BPMI Setpres Via ANTARA)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) ordered the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) to identify the risks of climate change and its impacts as a whole.

"Identify, what adaptations we can do, increase the capacity of human resources and equipment for weather and climate modeling that combines information from satellite technology," President Jokowi said in his remarks at the BMKG 2022 National Coordination Meeting online monitored in Jakarta, Antara, Monday. , August 8th.

Jokowi also asked the BMKG to strengthen information and literacy services, especially in the areas of agriculture and fisheries so that farmers and fishermen can anticipate extreme weather. The BMKG was also asked to expand the scope of the climate field school forum and the fishermen's weather field school forum so that the impact would be more significant.

“The impact of climate change is very serious. We need to have policies and systems that are tested and resilient to ensure equitable and sustainable food security as well as an early warning system when a disaster will occur,” he said.

According to Jokowi, BMKG has a very strategic role in anticipating the impact of climate change on national food security. BMKG must function to monitor, predict and issue early warnings about extreme weather and climate conditions.

"This is very helpful for the formulation of prevention and response strategies," he said.

Currently, Jokowi said, the world is facing a critical challenge of climate change. The World Meteorological Organization stated that indicators of climate change and the impact of these changes in 2021 are getting worse, which is indicated from the conditions in the last seven years which have become the seven warmest years.

“This condition is a real challenge for us. Addressing climate change has become a priority issue and global challenge after the COVID-19 subsides," he said.

The impact of climate change, according to Jokowi, is very broad and multi-sectoral. One of the impacts is the occurrence of natural disasters and the emergence of threats to food security.

“FAO (World Food Agency) says that more than 500 million small-scale farmers who produce more than 80 percent of the world's food sources are the group most vulnerable to climate change. Be careful, this is a very serious problem, it needs comprehensive handling, it is necessary to anticipate as early as possible, as soon as possible and as well as possible," said the Head of State.