Insights: WRI's Blog

Apart from inadequate drainage capacity, there are three main factors that are often linked to flooding in Jakarta: extreme rainfall, changes in land cover, and land subsidence. So far, efforts to deal with floods in Jakarta have been carried out through grey infrastructure approach. However, the effectiveness of physical infrastructure will become increasingly limited, especially when affected by the climate crisis. Nature-based Solutions approach is considered capable to overcome these shortcomings while providing multi-benefits.

A study in 2015 by Jenna Jambeck, an oceanographer from the United States (US), revealed six out of 11 Southeast Asian countries are in the top 20 countries that mismanage their plastic waste. Indonesia is in second place, followed by the Philippines (third), Vietnam (fourth), and Thailand (sixth), Malaysia (eighth), and Myanmar (17th). ASEAN countries need to manage not only their own plastic waste, but also waste from other sources, such as countries or oceans. Therefore, collaborative efforts from ASEAN countries to fight the global marine plastic waste problem are urgently needed.

Structural problems of land management have occurred since the colonial era and have led to land conflicts. According to WRI study, multistakeholder institutions are one of the options to prevent and resolve land conflict in Indonesia in an effective and sustainable manner. Here are seven aspects that need to be considered in implementing this option to optimized the impact.

It is undeniable that the youth of today and the future are key actors in Indonesia’s economic development. However, if you look into the unemployment rate of youth in 2020, 43.05 percent are unemployed, or an increase of 1.29 percent from 2019. To make things worse, the recent COVID-19 crisis has accentuated uncertainty for these young people, not to mention underprivileged youth who lives in rural area. This is why the acknowledgement of youth’s agency, capacity to think and make decisions for themselves is important.

GDP is the total value of output produced by a country, and is commonly used to measure economic growth. However, GDP does not measure the level of social welfare, such as public health or education level. Considering the limitations of GDP in reflecting the relationship between economic activity and environmental conditions, the Natural Capital Accounting framework was developed to be able to measure assets, values, and changes in natural capital - including marine and coastal resources.

The realization of a sustainable ocean economy can yield great benefits. The WRI study shows that every dollar invested in increasing sustainable sea-based protein production generates a benefit of US$10.

The Eleventh Edition presents the Top 5 Places to Watch indicated to be illegal logging areas from 1 July to 30 September 2020.

The ban on single-use plastics is one of the most frequently used policy instruments in the world to limit its use. Several cities in Indonesia, including Jakarta, ban the use of single-use plastic bags. What should Indonesia do to achieve its single-use waste reduction target by January 1, 2030?

Low-carbon development paths can generate social and economic benefits, and lead to fairer and more inclusive futures for countries around the world.

The tropics lost 12.2 million hectares of tree cover in 2020. Of that, 4.2 million hectares, an area the size of the Netherlands.