As I see it | As Southeast Asia cities sink amid rising sea levels, Asean should push climate policies as a bloc

Name: Indonesia passes law to relocate capital from Jakarta to Borneo
Uploaded: 2023-02-10T00:00:15.000Z
Duration: 2 min 44 s
Description: Indonesia passes law to relocate capital from Jakarta to Borneo

Not every Southeast Asian nation can afford to move the seat of government – along with entire communities – to a new frontier, as Indonesia is doing

The common thread for Asean nations is that climate change presents a real threat to their national security, their people and their economies

Reading Time:3 minutes

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A view of Bangkok’s business and financial centre among urban city at noon time. The Thai capital is not the only major city in Southeast Asia facing a climate crisis. Photo: Shutterstock

Joseph Sipalan

Published: 8:00am, 10 Feb 2023

Earlier this week, a Thai news report highlighted the existential threat facing Bangkok, with experts warning of the climate danger in the capital city’s most urban areas.

According to the Bangkok Post report headlined “Bangkok is still sinking, and fast!”, the shoreline of the Bangkok Metropolitan Region – home to some 14 million people – would recede by 1.3km every year, and eventually fall below sea level within a century, if nothing was done to address the situation.

The Thai capital is not the only major city in Southeast Asia facing a climate crisis.

Just over four years ago, Indonesia’s capital of Jakarta earned the dubious distinction of being one of the fastest sinking cities in the world, with half the city already sitting below sea level, exposing large sections of its 10 million population to persistent and potentially life-threatening floods.

To deal with the impending calamity, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo launched an ambitious plan to move the capital city to a new island far removed from the collapsing soil and chronic pollution that has long plagued the northwestern coast of Java where Jakarta was built.

But not every country has the space, or desire, to engage in what would be an exorbitant exercise to move the seat of government – along with entire communities – to a new frontier.

02:44

Indonesia passes law to relocate capital from Jakarta to Borneo

With the exception of Laos and Cambodia, members of Asean have significant stretches of coastline.

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As I see it | As Southeast Asia cities sink amid rising sea levels, Asean should push climate policies as a bloc

Not every Southeast Asian nation can afford to move the seat of government – along with entire communities – to a new frontier, as Indonesia is doing The common thread for Asean nations is that climate change presents a real threat to their national security, their people and their economies

Not every Southeast Asian nation can afford to move the seat of government – along with entire communities – to a new frontier, as Indonesia is doing

The common thread for Asean nations is that climate change presents a real threat to their national security, their people and their economies