The Blame Game:
An analysis of the 2015 Indonesian Wildfires and the 2009 Australian “Black Saturday Bushfires”
The Indonesian wildfires of 2015 and the Australian black Saturday bushfires of 2009 are both major disasters that caused severe damages and many casualties, but with different controversies surrounding them. The many lives lost in Victoria Australia brought a major discussion about hazard response, vulnerability and human rights on the agenda. In Indonesia the controversies around the fires leaves a bitter taste: substantial CO2 emissions, toxic haze, deaths and loss of biodiversity is being blamed on slash-and-burn farming and the palm-oil industry.
This essay will first present the details of the fires and then compare their differences regarding …show more content…
Australia has a GDP of 51,642 per capita, while Indonesia has a GDP of 3,416 per capita and 11% of its population is living in poverty (2014). Poverty and vulnerability to hazard are highly related, as there exist a correlation between income and vulnerability to hazard. In the case of the Indonesian fires, the structural weaknesses are important. The fires cause; slash-and burn farming, is part of the Indonesian economy. They should not be viewed as a natural disaster, but as an extended arm of their economy that ultimately went wrong. According to a study published by “World Growth” (2008) palm oil has been Indonesia’s most significant agricultural export the last decade. In 2008 alone Indonesia exported over 14,5 billion in palm oil related products. This creates jobs for Indonesia’s rural population, of which over 20% live below the poverty line. On that account the Indonesian economy is depending on exporting palm oil as poverty relief. This makes their vulnerability for hazardous wildfires a structural weakness in their economy, which is fueled by
An analysis of the 2015 Indonesian Wildfires and the 2009 Australian “Black Saturday Bushfires”
The Indonesian wildfires of 2015 and the Australian black Saturday bushfires of 2009 are both major disasters that caused severe damages and many casualties, but with different controversies surrounding them. The many lives lost in Victoria Australia brought a major discussion about hazard response, vulnerability and human rights on the agenda. In Indonesia the controversies around the fires leaves a bitter taste: substantial CO2 emissions, toxic haze, deaths and loss of biodiversity is being blamed on slash-and-burn farming and the palm-oil industry.
This essay will first present the details of the fires and then compare their differences regarding …show more content…
Australia has a GDP of 51,642 per capita, while Indonesia has a GDP of 3,416 per capita and 11% of its population is living in poverty (2014). Poverty and vulnerability to hazard are highly related, as there exist a correlation between income and vulnerability to hazard. In the case of the Indonesian fires, the structural weaknesses are important. The fires cause; slash-and burn farming, is part of the Indonesian economy. They should not be viewed as a natural disaster, but as an extended arm of their economy that ultimately went wrong. According to a study published by “World Growth” (2008) palm oil has been Indonesia’s most significant agricultural export the last decade. In 2008 alone Indonesia exported over 14,5 billion in palm oil related products. This creates jobs for Indonesia’s rural population, of which over 20% live below the poverty line. On that account the Indonesian economy is depending on exporting palm oil as poverty relief. This makes their vulnerability for hazardous wildfires a structural weakness in their economy, which is fueled by