Oxfam GB in Indonesia In Action

It was 10 o’clock on a Saturday morning (10/11) when I approached Pak Rizaldi Boer and asked if I could interview him.  He was one of the speakers, invited by Oxfam Yogyakarta, at “Disaster Risk Reduction and the Mass Media Training” recently on 9-11 November 2007 in Bali.  Still looking enthusiastic even though he had been talking for almost 1.5 hours, he agreed to see me. 

After we found a place to sit, we ordered two cups of cappuccinos and started the interview. 

Rizaldi Boer or better known as Pak Rizaldi is a prominent climate specialist in the national and international circles. Besides his busy schedule as an expert source at various seminars, he teaches at Bogor Agricultural Institute. 

He got his degree in Agro meteorology from Bogor Agricultural Institute in 1983.  He went on to take his PhD in Agriculture at the University of Sydney in 1991 and graduated in 1994. 

As a climate expert, Pak Rizaldi thought that the current climate change, which was the talk of the town, was the result of the trapped molecules in the atmosphere – molecules of green house gasses, which has started especially since the pre-industrial era. 

When asked whether this climate change phenomenon can be stopped, he answered that what was happening can not be stopped even though, for example, tomorrow, we can stop the increase of emission of green houses gasses as the result of human activities. 

He added that we just had to face the phenomenon and determined the strategy to deal with it, which had to be prepared from now on. 

Pak Rizaldi also stated that the ten biggest disasters in Indonesia, which happened between 1907 and 2007, were generally related to climate, especially flood, draught and fire.  This climate disaster generally happened after the 1990s and its intensity and frequency had continued to increase since then. 

He hopes that through the workshop organized by Oxfam, the media in Indonesia can publish news, which can educate the readers across the country about climate change and how to decrease the risk of disaster. 

Before we ended our conversation, I asked what would happen if people do not care about this phenomenon of nature.  He got quiet for a minute and finally said, ”Our children and grandchildren will suffer the most if we do not do something about it now.”