The Jakarta Post reports Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Freddy Numberi raised the idea prior to an international forum on how climate change is affecting the world’s oceans.
The report said he had not yet discussed the proposal in depth with President Yudhoyono. Some small-island nations have begun to shop around for new “homeland” in other countries for citizens that may be made homeless when the rising tides submerge areas where they now live.
This is an especially urgent issue for the Maldives, where most of the land is only about 5 feet above the surface of the Indian Ocean. Indonesia itself has already lost several islands due to rising sea levels.
Syamsul Maarif, director-general for coastal and small islands, told reporters that it would be very possible for Indonesia to 'trade' some of its nearly 17,500 small islands since many of them are uninhabited and are naturally safe from rising sea levels.
The United Nations has warned that the climate change could lift sea level up to 2 feet by 2100 unless action is taken to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
Some scientists have said the rise in ocean levels could be far greater well before the end of this century.