The Indonesian Maritime Minister’s proposal comes as a report this week reinforces the need to accommodate forecast increasing numbers of people displaced by climate change. Pacific Island nations are among the hardest hit by rising sea levels. The Global Humanitarian Forum’s report says more than half the region’s population lives within 1.5 kilometres of the shore and people are already leaving Tuvalu for New Zealand. The forum blames climate change for the deaths of 300,000 people each year.
The Indonesian solution is to rent some of its 10,000 uninhabited islands to those whose island homes are being inundated. The secretary-general of Indonesia’s Maritime Affairs Ministry, Dr Syamsul Maarif, says the idea must first pass through his country’s government. But he believes Indonesia will acknowledge a responsibility to help small island communities facing the plight of rising sea levels.
(HT: Towards Recognition)
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