Indonesia's large and growing population and rapid
industrialisation present serious
environmental issues, which are often given a lower priority due to high poverty levels and weak, under-resourced governance. Issues include
large-scale deforestation (much of it
illegal) and related wildfires causing
heavy smog over parts of western Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore; over-exploitation of marine resources; and environmental problems associated with rapid
urbanisation and
economic development, including
air pollution,
traffic congestion, garbage management, and reliable water and
waste water services.
Habitat destruction threatens the survival of indigenous and endemic species, including 140 species of
mammals identified by the
World Conservation Union (IUCN) as
threatened, and 15 identified as critically endangered, including the Sumatran Orangutan. Indonesia has a below average but slightly improving performance in the global
Environmental Performance Index (EPI) with an overall ranking of 107 out of 180 countries in 2016. This is also below average in the
Asia Pacific region, behind Thailand but slightly ahead of China. The EPI was established in 2001 by the
World Economic Forum as a global gauge to measure how well individual countries perform in implementing the United Nations'
Sustainable Development Goals. The environmental areas where Indonesia performs worst (ie. highest ranking) are
water resource management (128), environmental effects of fisheries (127) and forest management (109), followed closely by
sanitation.
Waste water treatment plans are expected to improve conditions a bit in the future. Indonesia performs best (ie. lowest ranking) in the area of
climate and energy (41), mostly due to the excellent access to electricity, less so for
carbon dioxide emissions levels from power production. Health impacts of environmental issues (78) and biodiversity and habitat (83) also ranks above average.
Climate Change Indonesia is at serious risk from the projected
effects of climate change. If emissions are not reduced, it is predicted that it will see an average temperature rise of around 1°C by the middle of the century, 0.3°C per decade. This amounts to almost double the frequency of extremely hot days (with temperatures above ) per year by 2030, a figure which is predicted to rise to nearly one in three days by the end of the century. Over 60% of Indonesia’s population live in low-lying coastal areas, including Jakarta, which is particularly at risk, as 40% of the city is below sea-level and is rapidly subsiding, putting a huge number of people at risk of displacement. All of this is likely to affect poorer communities the most. Over 50% of the population of Indonesia live on less than US$2 per day, and the poor will bear the brunt of the disastrous effects of climate change, including death, illness and displacement, “as they are typically the most vulnerable to the impacts of drought, floods, and landslides; and pursue livelihoods that are highly dependent on climate-sensitive sectors (i.e fisheries and forestry)”
Deforestation == Environmental policy and law ==