A Sinking City, A Changing Time

Words by Austen Hunt

This article is part of PULPCLIMATE week. CLICK HERE to join the facebook group. University of Sydney Students will be marching from Fischer Library at 10:00 AM on the 20th of September.

Indonesia’s incumbent President Joko Widodo has announced that the country will be creating a new capital city on the island of Borneo. Struggling to maintain and build adequate infrastructure for the 10.7 million people currently living in Jakarta, the move has been induced by growing pressures brought on by climate change and growing social inequalities. In response to these developments, the president has announced that his administration will commit $33 billion to relocate the city to the more stable location of East Kalimantan.

 The relocation has been brought on by necessity as the city of Jakarta faces compounding environmental issues. At present, Jakarta is the world’s fasting sinking megacity and struggles with the world’s worst air quality. A combination of rising sea levels, which occurs at a rate of some 6.7 inches a year, and a tendency for citizens to opt-out of using water infrastructure, drilling down to access bore water as opposed to using the city’s utilities, has rendered the city particularly vulnerable to the climate crisis. It has been estimated that if conditions continue at this trajectory that parts of the megacity will be completely submerged by as soon as 2050.

While moving the city is being framed as essential, the question has to be asked, will it fix the problem or simply move it? The answer may be bittersweet, the move will alleviate pressures on the Island of Java but it poses serious risks to the soon to be developed Island of Borneo.

East Kalimantan: A New Haven or a Possible Disaster? 

The East Kalimantan regency on the Island of Borneo is set to experience a radical transformation that brings with it new opportunities and challenges. The relocation is set to redefine Indonesia’s environmental policies, administrative capabilities, and regional relations.

Indonesia’s administration has been forced to relocate its capital due to environmental pressures, however, the relocation is set to drastically increase the nations carbon footprint. The region of East Kalimantan is defined by its dense peatland rainforests. Peatland rainforests are unique in that they are particularly effective at sequestering carbon from the atmosphere, with one hectare removing and storing upwards of 6,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide. The prospect of developing over this land brings with it the risk of deforestation to this critically important ecosystem, which with the recent crisis affecting the Amazon rainforest is all the more important to regulating our planet's climate. The development of a new city in the province, in combination with the expected 1.5 million people who are expected to migrate to the regency, will place added pressure on already vulnerable ecosystems.

In another vein, the relocation of the city has been heralded as a move which may increase the administrative efficiency of Indonesia’s government. The current capital location on the Island of Java has been criticised as being geographically isolated from the 17,000 Islands which make up the rest of Indonesia. This placement has led to criticisms from within the Indonesian state that Indonesian directives are formulated to benefit the Island of Java, a claim which finds basis in the fact that more than 60% of the country’s population lives within Java. The relocation of the city to East Kalimantan will place monitoring agencies, parliament, and other relevant arms of governments in a more central position to the nation. Furthermore, with East Kalimantan holding a coastline on the Celebes Sea, the new capital will likely see investment flow towards increasing the logistical capacity of the region by means of new ports, facilitating trade and migration.

Finally, the moving of the nation’s capital to the Island of Borneo will shift the diplomatic posturing of Indonesia within the region. The Island of Borneo is distinct in that it is split between three jurisdictions which are governed by different sovereigns; Malaysia, Brunei, and of course Indonesia. The moving of a nation’s strategic centre, it’s capital city, onto a landmass which is not solely governed by their own country signals either a projection of influence over these other nations or a contentment with cooperating indefinitely with these powers. This redefining of Indonesia’s role within the International has been central to the Joko Widodo administration as his presidency has been largely defined by his efforts to direct ASEAN (The Association of South East Asian Nations) towards a new shared vision of building a stronger ‘indo-pacific’. This is furthered by the new capital’s location on the Celebes Sea which will place Indonesia’s governing bodies in a closer proximity to both the Philippines and the South China Sea (a centre point for regional tensions).

Indonesia’s announcement to move its capital city from the Island of Java to the Island of Borneo has outlined the extent to which climate change is reshaping our world. Forcing people from their homes due to rising sea levels, the climate crisis has forced governments to organise mass migrations and developments to adjust to this changing world. The changes may threaten to increase the rate at which environmental destruction occurs if they are not managed correctly, however, also facilitate new economic and diplomatic opportunities. The relocation of Indonesia’s capital may be the first case study of an organised mass migration within a region which is likely to be disproportionately threatened by the symptoms of the climate catastrophe.