Urban
poor face climate change impacts
Syarifah Aini Dalimunthe ; A researcher at the Research Center for Population,
Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Jakarta
|
JAKARTA
POST, 08 Desember 2014
Despite the robust economic growth, a recent report from Central
Statistics Agency (BPS) says there are 10.5 million urban poor in Indonesia,
mostly in Java and Sumatra. They live in a very poor state and mostly in
overcrowded spaces that lack water, sanitation, drainage and, often, primary
healthcare.
In his address to the Synthesis Report of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) launched in early November in Denmark, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that the world was largely ill-prepared
for the risks of a changing climate, especially the poor and most vulnerable
who have contributed least to this problem.
Scientists agree that in urban areas, climate change is
projected to increase risks for people, assets, economies and ecosystems. To
the urban poor the situation is an added burden to their already challenging
day-to-day life.
They will be facing risks from the changing climate of heat
stress, storms, extreme precipitation and coastal flooding. Without any doubt
the population of urban poor is having firsthand experience related to the
changing climate.
Taking evidence from the ground, let us meet Mpok Neneng from
North Jakarta. She lives with her small family: two teenage daughters and her
husband, Toto, who works in a salted/dried-fish factory.
Unpredictable seasons in the last decade ruined the family’s
income. Rainy seasons come way too early. Fish is getting difficult to catch
and drying process often fails.
The family has to live on less than US$10 a week, forcing Neneng
to open a small stall selling gorengan (fried food). She is not happy with
the situation.
Frequent flooding has inundated her house and rotted her
furniture, while diseases have broken out unchallenged. Asking for aid is
almost impossible because her family is not registered at the local
subdistrict administration.
She found the future would not get any better as her daughter
has to drop out of school to help the family earn a living.
Neneng epitomizes the demographic that will be hit hardest by climate
change, which places communities like hers on the very front lines of the
scramble to adapt to and mitigate its impacts.
These people may not call it climate change, but they are
suffering the consequences.
Nationwide, a communications campaign to raise climate change
awareness continues to be promoted. Sadly, from its start in 2009 the
communications campaign has mostly used jargon with its well-known “green”
movement involving bike-to-work, car-free days and energy-efficient
buildings.
But then again, could these types of communications reach and
benefit the group most in need of the information? Do the urban poor as a
vulnerable group understand the aim of this campaign and are they making some
changes driven by the current type of message?
Communication experts found it is very challenging to make the
topic more appealing. Making it important is far easier than making it
interesting. They admit that engaging celebrities in the climate change
campaign is not enough. Messages on issues about climate change are not
reaching everyone, said one media expert. The content about climate change is
difficult for them to produce and for ordinary people to understand.
Yet, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) Article 6 mandates all parties to the convention to communicate the
effects and dynamics of climate change at all levels.
Parties are called upon to develop and implement public
awareness programs, provide public access to information and initiate
participatory processes to develop responses to climate change. Consequently,
commitment to this article is compulsory for Indonesia.
Having explored Climate Asia data (bbc.co.uk/climateasia), which
involved almost 5,000 respondents across Indonesia, 63 percent of the urban
poor felt that the changes they were experiencing impacted on their ability
to earn money.
They felt the high impact of changing climate now (30 percent)
and the number would double in the future. They do hear the term climate
change (62 percent) but less than 20 percent are prepared for extreme weather
events. This may be because the current climate change campaign discourages
rather than encourages them.
Observing the current climate change communications in
Indonesia, we will see a high amount of jargon and scientific language used.
Worse, much information in place is irrelevant to people’s daily lives.
The data also found health was a strong motivation for the urban
poor to take action.
Actions with tangible health benefits include reducing the
number of mosquitoes in the area by maintaining a cleaner neighborhood or
cleaning the river.
Peer pressure also motivated people to take action. People would
feel guilty if they were not involved in environmental protection.
The urban poor will get ready for a changing climate if they
have awareness, motivation, self-confidence, knowledge and the skills to
secure food, water and shelter, improve economic opportunities and security,
reduce the risk of disasters and cope with crises.
Indeed, the 10.5 million poor people like Neneng may be few in
number compared to the country’s population of 240 million. A report titled
The Geography of Poverty, Disasters and Climate Extremes in 2030 by the
Overseas Development Institute (ODI) suggest that climate change and exposure
to “natural” disasters threaten to derail efforts to eradicate poverty by
2030.
Thus, neglecting the urban poor will hamper the spirit of the
welfare society in the making and add to the potential calamities we are
facing as a nation.
It is an urgent call to make sure the urban poor will be more
resilient to the changes.
Hence, future effective climate change communications campaigns
and programs should be a top priority of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s
government. ●
|
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar