PALMOILMAGAZINE, JAKARTA – Climate change has become a serious challenge for the palm oil industry in Indonesia. The year 2023 recorded the highest global temperatures in history, and 2024 is predicted to follow the same trend. In 13 of the past 14 months, global temperatures exceeded the 1.5°C threshold on average.
Ardhasena Sopaheluwakan, Deputy of Climatology at Geophysics, Climatology, and Meteorology Agency (CGMA/BMKG), noted that as the world’s largest palm oil producer, Indonesia will inevitably feel the impacts of climate change. He stressed that the palm oil sector must quickly adapt and seize opportunities to implement climate actions to sustain productivity.
“Climate change will directly affect our palm oil plantations. Therefore, earth observation and scientific research are essential foundations for developing innovations to boost plantation productivity,” Ardhasena said during the “Bincang-Bincang Sawit” event with the theme “Innovative Solutions for the Sustainability of Palm Oil Plantations in Facing Climate Change and Increasing Productivity on Marginal Land.” The event, organized by the Indonesian Planters Society (IPS), was attended by Palmoilmagazine.com on Saturday, October 5, 2024, in Jakarta.
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As the support, CGMA would provide climate and weather information products which would be significant to get long term plan – adaptation. The information should help plantation sectors in the response to unexpected climate dynamics.
“CGMA would be ready to help by delivering information about climate and weather needed to anticipate such phenomenon, such as, El Nino and La Nina. We are open to get discussion about how to get better strategies in the future,” he said.
Besides delivering information, the agency would also collaborate with many sectors, including the planters to confirm that the data of weather would be well accessed and optimized. Ardhasena emphasized it would be significant to get research among many sectors to understand about the climate change to the ecosystem and response in palm oil plantations.
“We have to understand how the ecosystem would respond in the (climate) change and how the plantations would adapt. The collaboration among many sectors would be the key to face the challenges,” Ardhasena said.
In the chance, he also hoped that there would be cooperation between CGMA and IPS to optimize palm oil plantation adaptation to face the more complex climate change.
For information, in the event, the coordinators of IPS in 2024 – 2027 were officially inaugurated. Jamalul would be the chairman after having national scale meeting in Jakarta. (P2)