Indonesia to host first World Delta Summit

Jakarta, Oct 7: The first World Delta Summit will be organized in Indonesia on Nov 21-24, 2011, according to Secretary of the Coordinating Ministry for People's Welfare Indroyono Soesilo. The summit would be the first world's event combining science, policy and practice elements, Indroyono said here on Thursday.

He said the results of the World Delta Summit would be presented in the Climate Change Summit to be held in South Africa this year. The delta summit, which will be organized by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and Delta Alliance's Indonesia Wing, is a follow up of the Deltas in Time of Climate Change Conference, which was held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, September 28-October 1, 2011. "In the conference, Indonesia was given a trust to host the World Delta Summit 2011," he said.

The Delta Summits participants are expected to share a common but differentiated responsibility on securing the deltas functionality for our survivability, call for an immediate action plan with long term shared vision, produce acceptable and robust worldwide policies, and address the challenges and create new opportunities as well while reducing the disaster risks and properly alleviating the poverty under the changing climate.

Deltas and coastal lowlands are the most prolific of regions, because of their rich environmental resources and strong economic potential. They are hubs of innovation, biodiversity, industrial and agricultural productivity, and home to the fastest growing cities in the world. Great ancient and current civilizations begin in deltas.

Many people live in delta regions, which provide many resources and functions for human life. Deltas provide not only basic needs like water, fertile land, food, pleasant climates and weather, but they also provide energy (oil and gas), forestry, fish and many other facilities for human existence such as rivers for transportation.

Deltas are the centre of economic and cultural activity, and home to more than half of the worlds population. Yet, climate change poses severe challenges for deltas. As land subsides, sea levels rise, and populations grow, deltas and their cities are becoming more vulnerable. Increased incidence of floods and droughts, salt water intrusion and heat waves threaten the economic vitality and attractiveness of deltas worldwide. Adaptation to climate change has become an imperative. This calls for cooperation of deltas worldwide.

PTI (Antara)