Infrastructure and Climate Change Risks

COVID-19 is said to be a manifest of climate change risks.

- CINDY RISWANTYO

Despite arguments around it, the pandemic situation is a moment of awakening to the vulnerability of human beings to shocks and disasters. The focus on the recovery efforts has shifted from merely returning to the business-as-usual to the climate-resilient economy. In the infrastructure sector, which happens to be the government's priority economic agenda, climate-resilience infrastructure projects also gain relevance, especially since infrastructures are built to serve for generations long.

McKinsey Global Institute's report published in January 2020 revealed that the 2017 flooding in China cost $3.55 billion of direct economic loss. Such an event is two times more likely to be exacerbated by climate change. The report also identified Indonesia in a group of hotter and humid countries with a higher risk in physical assets and infrastructure services.