Dozens killed in cold lava mudslides on Indonesian island of Sumatra
GuardianMAY 2024
Indonesia: Cold Lava, Flash Floods Kill Over 40
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The Spin
Narrative A
While Indonesia is increasingly disaster-prone, the government has acknowledged this risk and boldly sought to address it financially. Between 2014 and 2018, a robust 1.9% of the government spending was allocated to disaster response and recovery. While natural disasters are a fact of life in Indonesia, there are significant and innovative investments and risk reduction measures underway.
Narrative B
Urban flooding in Indonesia increases in frequency annually and results in the deaths of hundreds of people. Instead of investing in multi-hazard large-scale risk reduction projects, the national and subnational governments have unfortunately allowed politics to infiltrate systems that should be designed logically. Real change starts at the local level where officials must commit to strong policies that are built on community support.
Narrative C
Increasingly severe downpours, flooding, and landslides are directly connected to human-induced climate change. Indonesia is among the top countries in terms of climate risk, which is why it must wake up and execute its climate agendas — including setting a target to cut emissions — to save lives and billions of dollars in damage. Any disaster risk reduction strategy and the local, subnational, or national level must accelerate and expand to encompass severe climate stress.