August 18, 2025
JAKARTA – The worsening climate crisis is disrupting the lives and future of Indonesian youths, forcing some out of school and into work while threatening their health and access to food, according to the latest report by child rights NGO Save the Children, presented at The Jakarta Post’s office earlier this week.
Based on consultations in July with teenagers aged 15 to 19 in Jakarta and Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, the report found that increasingly unpredictable and extreme weather has caused crop failures and triggered natural disasters, upending daily life for children in both rural and urban areas.
In Jakarta, several children described struggling to access nutritious food, consuming instant noodles more often than vegetables and fish. Many avoided fish altogether, citing worsening water quality as floods become more common.
“It’s so hard to even eat fish, because we know how much bacteria and germs are in the water due to the floods,” said Jakarta-based Amirah, who opted for a pseudonym, in the report.
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has cautioned since April that the country would see more hydrometeorological disasters due to climate change, including floods.
Read also: ‘Dry season’ floods nationwide highlight climate crisis
In Kupang, failed harvests and declining fish stocks have forced families to substitute rice with cheaper staples like cassava and corn, while once-abundant local fruits have grown scarce and expensive.
The dire situation has pushed some children to leave school and work to help support their families.
“[I ended up working] because my father couldn’t produce any vegetables on our family’s farm due to the dry season, which reduced my pocket money from Rp 5,000 [31 US cents] to Rp 2.000,” said Kupang-based Tono, also not his real name.
The report also found that girls face even tougher times from the climate-induced situation, with many forced into early marriage to ease their family’s financial burden. Frequent evacuations due to natural disasters also expose girls to harassment at shelters.
“It is us girls who are often catcalled, insulted, harassed or asked for our phone numbers,” said Vina, another pseudonym, in the report.
Warnings from environmentalists
Uli Arta Siagian, campaign manager of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), said the findings align with her group’s own research linking the climate crisis to more ecological disasters, worsening economic conditions and declining children’s health.
“The climate crisis impacted the quality and quantity of our farmers’ agricultural produce, which caused the community’s economy to suffer. […] Furthermore, it also directly impacts children’s nutritional needs,” Uli told the Post on Wednesday, adding that Walhi has documented reduced harvests of coffee, staple crops and local produce in multiple regions.
Uli warned the trend would worsen unless there are “fundamental changes in policies and real actions” from the government.
Under President Prabowo Subianto’s administration, Indonesia has made several climate pledges, including achieving net-zero emissions by 2060 and retiring all coal-fired power plants by 2040.
However, Uli criticized several laws for enabling “the destruction of nature in the name of investment”, singling out the Job Creation Law, which has faced backlash for potentially weakening environmental protections. She urged its repeal alongside the passage of long-delayed legislation such as the Indigenous Rights bill and a proposed Climate Justice bill.
“Future generations will inherit a dire situation if nothing changes,” Uli said.
Read also: Climate action delivers when benefits are visible: UNFCCC
Representatives from the Environment Ministry did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comments.
Meanwhile, Save the Children has urged the government to address these threats by improving climate literacy in schools, ensuring disaster-affected children receive balanced nutrition, and strengthening food security through climate-resilient farming, among other measures.
Child psychologist Annelia Sari Sani also stressed the importance of protecting children’s education, warning of the cascading effects of disruption.
“When children are cut off from education, they will find it hard to develop their cognitive capacity, which will then lead to their difficulties in finding jobs. It’s a never-ending cycle,” Annelia said on Thursday.