TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Former Environment Minister Emil Salim predicted that Indonesia will drown in 2045 if the government does not seriously deal with the climate change.

Emil asserted that Indonesia will be submerged underwater in 2045 if the government failed to make efforts to address climate change.

"If we do not really change the current development pattern and method that runs for business as usual, then in 2045, Indonesia will be drowned, it will disappear. On the contrary, if we are serious in mitigating it, Indonesia will be prosperous," said Emil, who is also a retired Professor of the Faculty of Economics at Universitas Indonesia.

Emil Salim delivered his statement in an international conference entitled Climate Finance and Policy for Paris Agreement, which was held by the Indonesian Expert Network on Climate Change (APIK) in Jakarta on December 19, 2018.

The former minister quoted the UN International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released on October 8, 2018. Climate change due to human factor has caused global warming to be around 1 degree Celsius. The IPCC emphasized that the consequences of global warming are clearly evident from the extreme weather.

Island countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Maldives and islets in the Pacific Ocean, he explained, would be the greatest victims and suffered the most from the issue.

Moreover, Indonesia is located close to the South Pole. When the polar ice melts, sea levels will rise, and so the rivers will be gone. Flood rob will drown millions of people living on the country’s coast, such as Jakarta, Semarang, and other cities.

"At the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Indonesian independence later, we will sink if we do not change the development design from now on," Emil underlined, "We must defend our people and work hard."

Emil Salim considered the National Medium Term Development Plan (RPJMN) 2020-2024 drafted by the National Planning and Development Agency (Bappenas) has changed the development pattern.

He further opined the use of coal for energy sources must be stopped starting date if Indonesia does not want to disappear in 2045. "We have to use renewable energy."

Besides, oil palm plantations on peatland must be prohibited, and the land must be restored. "You may plant oil palm, but not on the peat soil. If you keep forcing to do so, it means that you violate the policy on the RPJMN 2020-2024 which promotes low-carbon development,” said Emil Salim during a seminar on climate change.

UNTUNG WIDYANTO