Climate change is a popular terminology for more than a decade due to potentially causing catastrophe. Then, international and national forum, the discourse to reduce climate change impact based on economic calculation such as the percentage to reduce the emission and calculation of insentive to reduce emission.
Then, it will harm for national interest especially for economic growth that raising the unanswer question: Do we responsible equally to reduce emission or should we distribute the climate change impact altogether? In this discourse has arised injustice responsibility between developed countries and developing countries in line with the clearly emitter or the victims who have exposure of climate change directly.
Climate change issue is not only environmental issue, but also social issue. How about the program to reduce emission? Yes, it is important. However, the most serious issue esepecially in developing countries are community or society who depends on their livelihood from ecosystem service, such as smallholder farmer. In developing countries, the other terminology of smallholder farmer is peasant who have landowner below to 1 hectare.
Social Issues
Data from Indonesia National Statistic Bureau showed that the citizen up to 15 years old are the most rank worked in agriculture, plantation, forestry and fishery between 1986 and 2017. In 2017, the number is reached at 35.923.886. Then, should we focus to reduce our emission then give less attention to smallholder farmer?
If we too concentrate to reduce emission based on economic calculation, without giving more attention to the vulnerable people then the good programs for ‘only’ reducing emissions is just a dream.
Smallholder farmer or planters or fishermen are the most vulnerable people who face direct impacts of climate change. Then, the idea to make them as a labor who work in industrial site to liberate them from miserable conditions as people who depend on nature does not solve the problem or perhaps more destruction of nature and social itself.
The great number of Indonesian people who live in agriculture field based on National Statistic Bureau should be consideration for the top list development priority. If the vulnerable people cannot survive it would be terrible.
According to Tamma A. Carleton, researcher form Berkeley University stated that for more than 30 years from 1980, there are 59.300 cases that Indian farmer committed suicide in drought season due to climate change impact. Climate change impact has potentially long term drought due to raising of warming of 1 degree Celcius or more.
The Survival of Vulnerable People
To avoid the vulnerable people from critical impact, we have to understand deeply regarding their history, rate of income, need, constraint and their knowledge. Knowledge will rise a doubtfullness, do they have capacity of knowledge? The matter of knowledge is legitimation that is why policy makers, activists or scholars have the power to help the vulnerable people. However, the people who has categorized as vulnerable people as mentioned earlier commonly labelled as uneducated and isolated.
Policy makers or scholars have their own measurement to assess the vulnerable people. On the other hand, the vulnerable people do not have assessment for policy makers and scholars did to them. For example, how policy makers` policies make the vulnerable people have well capacity to adapt or in contrast make them powerless.
We have to give them some respect of their knowledge. It is strongly possible that good practices of environmentaly friendly and well-socially is originally their practice. Then, some of them do not realize that they have ‘their knowledge’. The vulnerable people should have proper confidence that they have capability to cope with climate change impact.
To make them survive, they have to learn the change of climate and the impact of their ecosystem which they depend on. Then, policy makers and scholars should facilitate them.
Nowadays, the popular terminology is sustainable society. It means that sustainable will be achieved if policy makers and scholars help the vulnerable people from calamity. Finally, the most important party to support is the politicians. Why? Because they are powerful party to help vulnerable people. Hopefully this issue has voiced by politicians in this political season. Happy earth day! May it is a right time to reflect the environment and social issues as critical issue.