Indonesia looks to create jobs with investments in green economy

Green investment could create up to seven to 10 times more new jobs more than conventional investments, suggested Rahmat Dwi Saputra, Head of Bank of Indonesia’s (BI) Representative Office for Central Java.

In a webinar, Green Economy as The Main Road to Achieve Sustainable Development in Indonesia, Saputra said, “It is because of the implementation of new, renewable energy, energy efficiency, recycling processes, and other activities regarding environmental responsibility that are more labour intensive.”

He shared that there is a need for green investments to manage climate change, which has triggered extreme weather conditions that have caused US$5.1 trillion in losses worldwide. “The losses due to extreme weather are expected to reach 18% of the global GDP by 2050 if there is no mitigation attempt,” he cautioned. 

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As an archipelagic nation, Indonesia is also considered as being more vulnerable to various natural disasters triggered by climate change that had caused total losses of up to Rp100 trillion (US$6.3 billion) per year, the official stated. He remarked that the amount is expected to increase to 40% of Indonesia’s GDP by 2048. Hence, BI is collaborating with the Central Java provincial government to attract more green investments, reported Antara.