"Indonesia consists of more than 17,000 tropical islands that are vulnerable due to the climate crisis. Our capital, Jakarta, is sinking 15 cm a year because of subsidence and sea level rise and it is the 2nd most polluted city in the world. Our forests are burning every single day due to irresponsible individuals and countless people’s health suffer from the haze. To quote Greta Thunberg, 'This is an emergency, our house is on fire.'"
Agung Bimo Listyanu, a 2018 Johnson & Johnson One Young World Alumni Ambassador, joined forces with two fellow Indonesian Ambassadors from Unilever and BP to set up a movement called CarbonEthics.
Bimo presented his learnings and aspirations in London on the main 2019 OYW stage.
Agung's Story
One year ago, I was selected for the Johnson & Johnson One Young World Program along with 64 other amazing J&J young leaders around the world. It was like a dream come true and it was an incredible experience to represent my Company. I had the opportunity to connect and learn from global leaders and fellow changemakers from diverse organizations. At the Summit I met Jessica Novia from Unilever and Innandya Irawan from BP, both of whom are as passionate as me to make a positive environmental impact within our country, Indonesia. Together we created CarbonEthics—a movement that aims to educate, reduce, and offset the carbon footprint of individuals and communities."
But before I go further, let me share with you what we’re dealing with in our country that makes me terribly worried. Indonesia consists of more than 17,000 tropical islands that are vulnerable due to the climate crisis. Our capital, Jakarta, is sinking 15 cm a year because of subsidence and sea level rise and it is the 2nd most polluted city in the world. Our forests are burning every single day due to irresponsible individuals and countless people’s health suffer from the haze. To quote Greta Thunberg, “This is an emergency, our house is on fire.”
This is why we set up CarbonEthics: to be part of the solution. We encourage people in Indonesia, especially young people, to reduce their carbon consumption while taking our carbon footprint survey. We then calculate their annual emissions and translate it to a carbon offset price. The funds raised are used for carbon absorption and coastal restoration projects.
To date, between May and September 2019, we've managed to plant 3000 mangrove trees and 100 baby corals in Thousand Island, and the number is growing. We have created 17 jobs for the islanders, who plant and manage the mangroves and the corals. We want to positively impact the 2000 people who live in the island, ensuring that the coast is protected from abrasion, as well as helping grow the local economy.
We will not stop here, this is just the beginning. As Professor Mohammad Yunus said last year at the Opening Ceremony: “Dreams are free. You can dream anything and make it into reality”. And this is our turn to dream. We want to create awareness and influence people to be carbon conscious. In the next 5 years, our aim is to create a CarbonEthics coastal sea forest that consist of 1 million mangroves, seagrass, corals, and other marine plants—forming a powerful ecosystem that will absorb huge amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
My advice for you as fellow changemakers today: remember you are powerful, your voice needs to be heard, and YOU can make a difference. However, you are more powerful when you collaborate. In CarbonEthics, because we are from different corporations, business backgrounds and skillsets, we have rich, diverse and colorful perspectives, which makes us stronger. It is not the time for organizations to compete; we need to collaborate across corporations, governments, policy makers, and not for profit institutions. It is time to use your power!
To be here today, I offset my own flight through planting 120 mangroves which is equal to offsetting 5 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. I encourage you to do the same, you can access our Instagram, our website, or One Young World's sustainability checklist where you can find the link to our survey and you also can find me during the summit.
You can connect with Bimo here.