Unusually heavy rains have triggered deadly flooding across Indonesia’s Sumatra Island, affecting 3.2 million people and causing more than 700 deaths, with over 500 still missing. These floods are part of a wider regional crisis linked to Cyclone Senyar which struck Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia and Cyclone Ditwah, which hit Sri Lanka. Together, these extreme weather events have resulted in over 1,300 deaths across Southeast Asia as of December 3.
Thailand’s Hat Yai province recorded its highest rainfall in 300 years, while Cyclone Senyar formed in the typically calm Malacca Strait an event experts consider “rare” due to the lack of rotational force near the equator. Scientists warn that such anomalies are becoming more common as warmer ocean temperatures supercharge storms and intensify rainfall.
Sisilia Nurmala Dewi, 350.org Indonesia Team Lead, said:
“With human-induced climate change intensifying storms and deforestation destroying our capacity to cope with climate impacts, this is a man-made disaster. The Indonesian government has mismanaged the environment by failing to protect our forests and allowing continued fossil fuel use. World leaders including President Prabowo of Indoneisa need to confront climate change by addressing its root cause: burning fossil fuels and clearing forests. While the President has made public statements about phasing out coal and shifting to renewable energy, this has not been reflected in actual policy.
Rich countries and big polluters must pay their climate debt now, not in the future, because lives are being lost now. Fossil fuel, mining, and palm oil companies that have profited from destroying our environment must pay up for loss and damage. Communities must be provided what they’re owed to rebuild from disaster and be protected from future harm. The money for a better future exists—it’s just in the wrong hands. Climate disaster victims are also becoming increasingly aware that polluters and their own governments are accountable for these clearly preventable tragedies. As the citizen lawsuit initiated by Bali’s flood victims shows, people are rising up and taking climate justice to court.”
The UN World Meteorological Organization has raised alarms over rising extreme rainfall across Asian nations, including Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. A recent attribution study by the Grantham Institute confirms that human-induced climate change has intensified both wind speeds and rainfall in recent typhoons, adding to the urgency for decisive climate action.
Rescue operations in Sumatra have been severely impeded by blocked roads, broken bridges, and thick mud conditions typical of rural and mountainous areas hit hardest by climate disasters. These compounded challenges illustrate how the most vulnerable communities are the least likely to receive timely assistance, deepening the injustices they already face despite having contributed least to the climate crisis.
Environmental degradation has further amplified the disaster. Driven by mining, logging, and palm oil industries, Sumatra has lost 4.4 million hectares of forest in the last two decades an area larger than Switzerland, leaving landscapes more prone to landslides and floods.
During a visit to flood-hit North Sumatra, President Prabowo Subianto acknowledged climate change as a challenge Indonesians “must confront.” However, his statements continue to frame climate change as a natural phenomenon rather than the man-made crisis it is, driven by fossil fuel combustion and deforestation. Indonesia’s own climate policies remain heavily reliant on fossil fuels and fail to protect forests, despite public claims of transitioning to renewable energy.
At COP30, nations pledged to triple adaptation finance but provided no concrete dollar commitment and delayed the goal to 2035. For vulnerable communities already losing lives and livelihoods, this delay is unacceptable. Rich countries and major polluters must pay what they owe now, not in the future.
Communities across Indonesia are demanding accountability. Survivors of September’s deadly floods in Bali, supported by 350.org organizers, are preparing a climate lawsuit against the Indonesian government for failing to prevent the disaster, citing the International Court of Justice advisory opinion affirming governments’ responsibilities to protect citizens from climate harm.