West Sumatra Bishop: Climate change provoked natural calamity – Vatican News

In an interview with Vatican News, West Sumatra’s Bishop Vitus Rubianto Solichin of Padang, Indonesia, discusses the tragic flooding that has slammed the region, attributing it and other natural calamities to climate change, and explains challenges to providing aid.

By Deborah Castellano Lubov

Flash floods and mud slides in Indonesia’s West Sumatra province have claimed at least 52 lives, and more than 3,000 people have been evacuated.

In an interview with Vatican News, West Sumatra’s Bishop Vitus Rubianto Solichin, s.x., discussed the ongoing disaster, and how such catastrophes are becoming more frequent and devastating as the environmental crisis hits new highs.

On Saturday evening, torrential rain triggered flash floods, landslides, and cold lava flow, in three districts in West Sumatra province, reported Reuters. The cold lava flow, a mud-like mixture of volcanic ash, rock debris, and water, came from Mount Marapi, one of Sumatra’s most active volcanoes, which erupted and claimed lives in December, and has erupted several times since.

Of the 52 dead, the news agency states, more than 45 have been identified, and local rescuers, police, and military continue to search for 17 others who are missing. As of Tuesday, nearly 3,400 people had been evacuated to nearby buildings.

Heavy rains in West Sumatra province are expected until next week, which, authorities warn, means staying alert about flash floods and landslides until at least May 22nd. People have been cautioned to stay away from hillsides that are prone to landslides.

Bishop of Padang: Striking landslide affecting many

In the interview, the Bishop of Padang recalled the torrential rains that slammed West Sumatra in the province of the diocese of Padang.

He called the damages “very striking,” given the immensity of this landslide, and that so many people are affected, with blockages preventing movement.

“If the government and rescuers work together to clean the area, then traffic and movement will be okay,” and the inconveniences and perils can be mitigated, the Bishop explained.

Need for better infrastructure

“The government,” he lamented, “is not willing to build a highway.” 

Given the propensity in West Sumatra, especially from October to April, even if now it is May, to battle these torrential rains, he stressed the urgent need to be equipped and to have solutions ready to face natural calamities, such as this one, at any time.

The many hills and valleys in West Sumatra, combined with small and provincial roads, the Bishop explained, exacerbate the situation.

“Especially because of deforestation, landslides will happen more and more often,” he said, observing various calamities provoked by natural disasters are happening ever more frequently.

1. “Especially because of deforestation, landslides will happen more and more often”

Indonesia has the world’s highest Muslim population, and in West Sumatra, they represent an especially high percentage of the population. “Especially in my diocese, Christians are not even 0.1%”

“There are about 75,000 people affected,” he noted, “but none of them are Christians. I asked the priests of our parishes. There is no victim among our Christian people.”

Aid efforts

A key problem facing those of any religion affected, “is that we have also the Christian or Catholic rescuers, but sometimes the Muslim people do not want to receive the Christian aid or Catholic aid.”

“Therefore, he explained, we have to use other names, that seem more neutral or common, like the Red Cross. 

“They won’t accept our help,” the Bishop explained, “as they say, ‘This is from Christians.'”

“This is also the problem,” he said. “We want to help them, but they don’t want to receive services from the Church,” thinking “sometimes that it means we want to Christianize them, but it’s not like that.”

Living and coexisting together

“We share this tragedy together,” he said.

1. “We share this tragedy together.”

West Sumatra, he noted, is the most eastern and the most Islamic part of Indonesia, as he explained that “the majority of the Muslims, including where there are fundamentalists, are here.”

“But in daily life,” he reassured, “we can live together, coexist, and collaborate with the government.”

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. SDG 13: Climate Action

   • Target 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters
   • Target 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning
   • Target 13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising, and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and early warning
   • Indicator 13.1.1: Number of deaths, missing persons, and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population
   • Indicator 13.2.1: Number of countries that have integrated mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and early warning into their national policies, strategies, and planning
   • Indicator 13.3.1: Number of countries that have communicated the strengthening of institutional, systemic, and individual capacity-building to implement adaptation, mitigation, and technology transfer

2. SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

   • Target 9.1: Develop quality, reliable, sustainable, and resilient infrastructure
   • Target 9.4: Upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable
   • Indicator 9.1.1: Proportion of the rural population who live within 2 km of an all-season road
   • Indicator 9.4.1: CO2 emission per unit of value added

3. SDG 15: Life on Land

   • Target 15.1: Ensure the conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems
   • Target 15.2: Promote the sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests, and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally
   • Indicator 15.1.1: Forest area as a proportion of total land area
   • Indicator 15.2.1: Progress towards sustainable forest management

Analysis:

1. SDG 13: Climate Action

   The article highlights the connection between the flooding and mudslides in West Sumatra province and climate change. Bishop Vitus Rubianto Solichin attributes these natural calamities to climate change, indicating a link to SDG 13. The targets under this SDG that can be identified are:

   • Target 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters
   • Target 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning
   • Target 13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising, and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and early warning

   The article mentions the tragic flooding and mudslides in West Sumatra province, which can be considered climate-related hazards and natural disasters. The need for better infrastructure and preparedness to face natural calamities also aligns with the targets under this SDG.

   The indicators mentioned or implied in the article are:

   • Indicator 13.1.1: Number of deaths, missing persons, and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population
   • Indicator 13.2.1: Number of countries that have integrated mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and early warning into their national policies, strategies, and planning
   • Indicator 13.3.1: Number of countries that have communicated the strengthening of institutional, systemic, and individual capacity-building to implement adaptation, mitigation, and technology transfer

2. SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

   The article mentions the need for better infrastructure in West Sumatra province to face natural calamities. This aligns with SDG 9, which focuses on industry, innovation, and infrastructure. The targets under this SDG that can be identified are:

   • Target 9.1: Develop quality, reliable, sustainable, and resilient infrastructure
   • Target 9.4: Upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable

   The article highlights the lack of a highway in the region and the challenges posed by small and provincial roads. This indicates the need for developing quality and reliable infrastructure to mitigate the impact of natural disasters.

   The indicators mentioned or implied in the article are:

   • Indicator 9.1.1: Proportion of the rural population who live within 2 km of an all-season road
   • Indicator 9.4.1: CO2 emission per unit of value added

3. SDG 15: Life on Land

   The article mentions the exacerbation of landslides due to deforestation in West Sumatra province. This aligns with SDG 15, which focuses on life on land and the conservation and sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems. The targets under this SDG that can be identified are:

   • Target 15.1: Ensure the conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems
   • Target 15.2: Promote the sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests, and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally

   The article highlights the impact of deforestation on the occurrence of landslides, indicating the need for sustainable forest management and conservation efforts.

   The indicators mentioned or implied in the article are:

   • Indicator 15.1.1: Forest area as a proportion of total land area
   • Indicator 15.2.1: Progress towards sustainable forest management

Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Fuente: vaticannews.va

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