October 9, 2023
JAKARTA – Most Indonesians believe that through teamwork, it is possible to reduce human-induced environmental degradation, but this does not necessarily translate into concrete action, a new study has found.
The United States-based research center the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (YPCCC) published on Tuesday a report that found that 75 percent of Indonesian respondents were confident that their government could successfully reduce climate change impacts caused by human activities.
It also found that 73 percent of respondents said they were confident that their communities could work together to reduce human-induced environmental destruction and 71 percent of respondents believed Indonesians citizens could achieve the same goals.
The report, titled “Climate Change in the Indonesian Mind”, was based on findings from a survey conducted by the YPCCC, Development Dialogue Asia and Communication for Change and Kantar Indonesia, which investigated how Indonesians perceive climate change. The survey interviewed 4,260 respondents aged 16 years and above nationwide from June 7 to July 30, 2021, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.7 percent, with a 95 percent confidence level.
The survey started with questions about whether respondents were aware of global climate change, and what they thought was causing it.
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The survey found that 29 percent of respondents said that climate change was occurring and believed humans were the root cause, while 23 percent said that natural events were also important factors. In contrast, 8 percent of respondents believed climate change was happening and caused mostly by natural changes to the environment, and 2 percent said it was happening but did not know the cause.
While the remaining 37 percent of Indonesians either did not know if climate change was happening or believed that it was not.
Although it appears that less than 30 percent of Indonesians believed human activities were the main cause of climate change, this number shows an increase in awareness from the 2022 YPCCC survey, in which only 18 percent of participants responded in the same way.
Despite growing awareness of climate change and confidence in climate collaborations, the report also found that just under 20 percent of respondents had participated in concrete action to combat the climate crisis, such as donating to or volunteering for environmental groups, encouraging people through social media, joining demonstrations or signing online petitions.
Read also: One in five Indonesians don’t believe human activity causes climate change
A different study by researcher Angga Ariestya into climate awareness among members of Generation Z in Indonesia also found a similar trend. High climate awareness among younger generations does not necessarily translate into action to reduce climate problems, which was published in The Conversation in 2020.
Gap persists
To understand the contradictions between optimism about cooperation and the reality on the ground, The Jakarta Post talked to Zenzi Suhadi, a national campaigner for the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) on Friday.
Zensie said that although many Indonesians believe that the government has the authority to address climate change, they do not necessarily believe that those in power will do so.
“That’s why a gap between climate awareness and action is something common in Indonesia,” he said. “And although people are taking political action on the ground, it doesn’t translate directly into policymaking because our political system and elections are not yet heading in that direction.”
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Zenzi said he disagreed with the belief that most Indonesians are unaware of global warming, as many rural communities have come to understand the issue of climate change as a change in weather and know how to address it based on their traditions.
“The language of climate change comes from academics and research, thus there will be a gap between ‘knowledge’ among people, for instance between those in big cities and in rural areas,” he added.
To respond to such challenges, Zenzi suggested efforts to change ways of thinking and behavior in understanding the economic, social and environmental aspects of climate change. (alf)