Indonesia prepares to cope with climate change
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Indonesia is undertaking measures for cities to cope with climate change, a minister said here on Tuesday.
"A number of measures are now undertaken such as preparation of zoning regulation for critical areas exposed with climate-related risks, implementation of urban development control against urban sprawling, introduction of transit oriented development, including park and ride facilities as well as bus way and application of waste management according to 3R principles of reduce, reuse and recycle," said Minister of Public Works Djoko Kirmanto.
The minister said in a keynote speech at "the International Conference on Urbanization in Climate Change: Spatial Planning and Low Carbon Cities" here that the future of Indonesia is at a great risk if no action is taken.
"Our commitment to face these unprecedented challenges will determine our country's competitiveness in global scale," he said.
Kirmanto said, Indonesia's cities as the primary engine of economic growth are not only dealing with their internal problems, "but in fact, they also have to compete with other cities worldwide."
He added that country's productivity depends largely on the efficient use of scarce natural resources as well as degree of investment to implant climate-proof infrastructures.
According to him, as an instrument to gear such major infrastructure development, spatial planning plays a significant role.
"We should admit that we are still in difficulty in implementing these spatial plans," he said.
One of the main agenda in the second stage of reformation commenced in 2010 is that the Indonesian government will emphasize on concrete responses and contributions in tackling climate change issues for the sustainability of national development through spatial planning, said the minister.
