Indonesia Needs 'Red Army' to Fight Forest Fire: Airlangga
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11 May 2022 18:55 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto said that Indonesia needs a 'Red Army' to deal with forest fires and the pandemic.
At the 2022 Green Economy Indonesia Summit in Jakarta today, May 11, 2022, he stated that Southeast Asian countries, especially Indonesia, are still very vulnerable to forest fires when entering the dry season.
“The risk of forest fires is lurking again. We need to be aware of it,” he said, citing the Climate Economics Index.
He also said that mitigating the climate crisis and the pandemic is similar, which requires what he called a 'Red Army' that is tasked with dealing with health crises and environmental crises. The current situation, he added, is the same as in 1930 when the world did not have firefighters.
“With the existing risks, the whole world now has firefighters, both in cities and forests. We, of course, in the future, need to mull over pandemic extinguishers from the health sector,” said Airlangga.
On the basis of awareness of the negative impacts of climate change, Airlangga said the Indonesian government is committed to cutting emissions by 29 percent with domestic efforts and by 41 percent with international support under the business as usual scheme by 2030.
Read: Indonesian Police Launch App to Control Forest, Land Fire
EKA YUDHA SAPUTRA