Jakarta (ANTARA) – President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) called on the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) to identify the risks of climate change and its impacts in future.
“I had urged them to identify the problem and increase the capacity of human resources and equipment for weather and climate modeling that could combine information from satellite technology,” Jokowi noted in his remarks at the 2022 BMKG National Coordination Meeting monitored online in Jakarta, Monday.
The head of state also called on the BMKG to strengthen information and literacy services, especially in the agriculture and fisheries area, to help farmers and fishermen anticipate extreme weather.
Jokowi also urged BMKG to expand the scope of the climate field school forum and the fishermen’s weather field school forum to ensure greater impact for the community.
“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,” Jokowi noted.
According to Jokowi, the BMKG has a strategic role to play in anticipating the impact of climate change on national food security. The BMKG should be able to monitor, predict, and issue early warnings about extreme weather and climate conditions.
“This effort will be very helpful to formulate prevention and response strategies,” he affirmed.
The president noted that currently, the world was reeling from the critical challenge of climate change. The World Meteorological Organization stated that indicators of climate change and the impact of these changes in 2021 were getting worse, as was indicated from the conditions in the last seven years that had become the seven warmest to have been recorded.
“This condition is a real challenge for us. Addressing climate change has become a priority issue and global challenge after a lowering in the number of COVID-19 cases,” the president remarked.
He noted that the impacts of climate change were quite broad and necessitated efforts from multiple sectors. One of the impacts was the occurrence of natural disasters and the emergence of threats to food security.
“The World Food Agency (FAO) informs that more than 500 million small-scale farmers, who produce more than 80 percent of the world’s food sources, are the most vulnerable group affected by climate change. This serious problem needs comprehensive handling and anticipation as soon as possible,” he said.
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