On Wednesday and Thursday, March 29-30, 2022, the UNDIP delegation, consisting of two students representing the UNDIP Foreign Policy Community (FPCI) chapter and three members of the UNDIP SDGs Center, participated in the Indonesia Universities Climate Conference 2022 (IUCC) offline and online. The conference which discussed the intricacies of climate change was organized by the Indonesian Foreign Policy Community (FPCI) in collaboration with the British Embassy, ​​inviting academics from 58 universities throughout Indonesia. This activity presented the theme “Higher Education for Green Development and Indonesia’s Climate Change Commitment” and was carried out offline and online considering the ongoing pandemic situation in Indonesia.

As a scientific forum that focused on action to tackle climate change, the discussion at the IUCC was to continue the commitment with the world, namely the COP-26 Glasgow Climate Pact. Specifically, the IUCC aimed to re-plan a series of agenda activities that could be carried out by Indonesia in dealing with climate change. The academic sector must also start moving to develop its climate change formulation and solution; which practically consisted of adaptation, mitigation, and funding.

Indonesia as an archipelagic country cannot be separated from the impact of climate change. Rising temperatures and rising water levels have a clear impact on everyday life. Take the example of the increase in rainfall in Sumatra and Kalimantan and the increase in drought levels in Java, Bali and other parts of southern Indonesia. Ecologically, the increased variability in the frequency of El Nino and La Nina can lead to an expansion of the impact of forest and peatland fires and disasters such as flooding in coastal areas. According to Indonesia’s disaster vulnerability index, in 2021 there will not be a single region in Indonesia that is free from the threat of climate change.

The meeting on the first day of the IUCC 2022 activity was filled with presentations from three environmental figures, namely Prof. Emil Salim (Indonesian environmental expert), Dr. Helen Adams (Head of Science Engagement for COP26), and Prof Keith Bell (environmental expert from England). The presentation of the three speakers was moderated by Dr. Dino Patti Djalal, Founder of the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia. The three speakers conveyed what the bad impacts of climate change would be if we did not address it immediately, and how to deal with climate change.

On the second day of the meeting or the last day of the IUCC 2022 series of activities, policy papers were prepared containing a summary of discussions, commitment statements, suggestions, and recommendations for stakeholders for consideration in decision making. The contents of this policy paper were all matters regarding actions to deal with climate change that were successfully formulated during meetings and discussions from the representatives of higher education institutions and related institutions such as BAPPENAS, NGOs, and the British Embassy. This conference formulated the IUCC mission that supported the achievement of the net-zero emission target by 2050 as part of the achievement of Indonesia Gold 2045; priority things that must be done in dealing with climate change included improving governance in terms of communication and communication, data and knowledge-based policies where there was no comprehensive climate change metadata, strengthening the capacity of all parties, either government, academics, business actors/ private sector, media, community or youth. So that, they were able to take actions to deal with climate change and enforce laws that favour nature and society. The results of this conference also provided recommendations for funding climate change handlers with the principles of transparency and optimization of financial instruments and institutions.

On the second day, the Minister of National Development Planning/Head of BAPPENAS attended the last session explaining the impacts of climate change in Indonesia and what steps the government had taken to deal with it. PPN Minister paid attention to the policies presented by the IUCC Committee and it got various inputs and questions from the participants. With the presence of the Minister of VAT, it was hoped that the formulations resulting from the IUCC conference discussions could be taken into consideration by the government in determining policies that support Net Zero Emission control.

Undip SDGs Center represented by Prof. Denny Nugroho Sugianto, Rukuh Setiadi, Ph.D, and Bulan Prabawani, Ph.D, who closely followed this activity offline. As a sign of Undip’s SDGs Center participation in this conference, a certificate of participation and a plaque from FPCI were sent. Besides participating in this IUCC conference, the Undip SDGs Center Team was also involved in writing reports on climate change at the international level through the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) by contributing to the writing of Chapter 6: Cities, Settlement, and Key Infrastructure IPCC Sixth Assessment Report.

Source: sustainability.undip.ac.id