International Virtual Course

International Virtual Course Biomanagement 2023

Climate change can be indicated by change in temperature and weather patterns in a long-term. In 2021, the global mean temperature was 1.1°C above the pre-industrial temperature and were projected to increase for the next five years. One of the contributors of climate change is human activities since 1800s mainly because of burning of fossil fuels (UN, 2023). Other activities such as opening land for agricultural activities, housing, buildings, can also emit greenhouse gases that causing climate change. The impact of climate change affects organisms to ecosystem levels, and it is a threat of life on earth. Climate change therefore is a global concern, so the mitigation of climate change becomes important. Action on climate change mitigation also one of integral part to achieve UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

Climate change mitigation in general can be accomplished through reducing the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere because there is a direct relation of GHGs and global average temperature. For example, enhancing the carbon sinks for example increasing forest area, reducing the greenhouse gas emission in all activities (agriculture, forestry, food manufacture, etc). Global warming mitigation therefore cannot be separated with bioresources management to optimize the sustainable use of bioresource at all biodiversity levels. 

Indonesia is one of distinctive country with ten thousand of islands spread out in the equator therefore Indonesia has tropical climate. Indonesia is the 5th of the most densely populated country in the world (FAO, 2003) meaning that Indonesia has abundance human resources. Indonesia also rich in biodiversity from all levels of biological organization from genetics to ecosystem therefore, the potential for bioresources is high. In addition, the richness of ethnicity is also one of the uniqueness of Indonesia. Each ethnicity has traditional knowledge in relation with biodiversity and how to manage in local scale. Despite its uniqueness, climate change will impact Indonesia severely. The management of biodiversity and bioresource in Indonesia should be a part in development planning. 

The discussion on how to mitigate climate change therefore is important. This issue has prompted us to discuss it in an International Virtual Course entitled “Climate Change Mitigation Through Green Technology, Bioresource Management and Community Empowerment” This activity is expected to provide adequate integrated insight, especially for students, both from ITB and other universities in Indonesia and abroad, as lessons learned to understand actions that can be performed to mitigate climate change.