Every day, Jakarta’s 13.5 million people face water-related risks. Some have too much water, while others just do not have enough. Some have water but it is not consumable because of dirt or salt. Some even face the threat of sea water entering their homes. As grave as the situation is, for Jakartans in this megacity, conditions are expected to worsen as a result of climate change.

Jakarta is one of the most populous urban agglomerations on earth. Its population has grown immensely in the last century. The megacity was once home to just 115,000 people in the 1900s when it was a Dutch colony, which then grew to 1.43 million in the 1950s at the time of Indonesia’s independence. In the 2000s, its population was 8.39 million after the collapse of the New Order and in 2017 this figure has grown to almost 13.5 million.

Indonesia has a major plastic waste problem on its hands. At the moment, the country is second only to China when it comes to dumping plastic waste into the world’s oceans. According to a Study by the University of Georgia, an estimated 3.22 million metric tons of plastic waste is tossed annually into the ocean surrounding Indonesia, while another 8.82 million metric tons of China’s plastic waste also makes its way into the ocean.

At the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, world leaders at last seemed to recognize the reality of climate change. But the response they are pursuing is fundamentally flawed, given its dependence on “renewable energy sources” – such as solar, hydro, and wind power, as well as biofuels – that actually damage nature.

What is the appropriate response to the threat of climate change? To some climate activists, it means we must give up on economic growth, capitalism or even industrial society itself. This extreme viewpoint, if correct, would require modern humanity to abandon much of what makes life comfortable and secure. It also causes many on the political right – and some in the centre – to suspect climate activism of being merely an excuse to end capitalism.

Climate change undoubtedly poses a potent – even existential – threat to the planet. But the current approach to mitigating it, which reflects a single-minded focus on cutting carbon dioxide emissions, may end up doing serious harm, as it fails to account for the energy sector’s depletion of water resources – another major contributor to climate change.“Water is at the heart of both the causes and effects of climate change,” a National Research Council report declares.

Last year, three of the world’s largest meat companies – JBS, Cargill, and Tyson Foods – emitted more greenhouse gases than France, and nearly as much as some big oil companies. And yet, while energy giants like Exxon and Shell have drawn fire for their role in fueling climate change, the corporate meat and dairy industries have largely avoided scrutiny.

According to the National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB), a pinkish plume was seen over Mount Agung in Bali early on Monday morning.The head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency of Indonesia, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho shared a photograph on Twitter of the plume rising form the volcano in Bali.

Nearly two years have passed since France’s then-foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, struck his gavel and declared: “The Paris agreement for the climate is accepted.” Next week, President Emmanuel Macron and the French government will host world leaders and non-state actors for the One Planet Summit.

The Pope comes to townThe biggest story this week was Pope Francis’ visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh.