[Jakarta, August 29, 2024] Indonesia is facing an escalating crisis of both democracy and climate. As the deadline nears for submitting the country’s second national climate commitment—known as the Second Nationally Determined Contribution (SNDC)—scheduled for September 2024, a coalition of civil society organizations is urging the Government to treat this national document as a turning point: a chance to correct Indonesia’s climate commitments toward greater justice through a more democratic and participatory process.
Following the Government’s statement in February, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF) is currently preparing the document. In this process, MoEF represents the Government of Indonesia in the United Nations mechanism that addresses global climate change, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
“The Government must uphold social justice by recognizing rights and meeting the specific needs of communities most vulnerable to climate change impacts—such as smallholder farmers, traditional fishers, Indigenous Peoples, and others. Only then can climate justice, or a just transition, be realized,” said Torry Kuswardono, Executive Director of Yayasan Pikul, at the launch of the Recommendations for a Just SNDC document supported by 64 Indonesian civil society organizations. The document has been submitted to MoEF as civil society input.
Data from Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency shows that climate-related disasters surged by 81%, from 1,945 incidents in 2010 to 3,544 in 2022, affecting more than 20 million people.
The IPCC (2023) reports that 79% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 came from the energy, industry, transport, and buildings sectors, while 22% came from agriculture, forestry, and other land use. These sectors drive emissions through land conversion and the exploitation of natural resources.
In recent years, the Government has introduced a range of climate policies, including a Net Zero Emissions target by 2060, Climate-Resilient Low-Carbon Development, the National Energy Transition, Indonesia’s FOLU Net Sink 2030, and the Carbon Economic Value framework.
However, these ambitions are still considered insufficient and not yet aligned with the global goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C. Indonesia’s 2060 net-zero target also extends beyond the international ambition of reaching net zero by 2050.
This puts Indonesians at risk—especially vulnerable groups such as smallholder farmers, traditional fishers, Indigenous Peoples, workers and informal laborers, women, persons with disabilities, children, young people, older persons, and survivors of gender-based violence—who bear the heaviest impacts of climate change. Climate injustice persists because Indigenous Peoples and vulnerable communities shoulder the consequences even though they are not the primary contributors to greenhouse gas emissions.
“Over the past decade, we’ve seen climate action in Indonesia actually make vulnerable communities even more vulnerable. Instead of lowering greenhouse gas emissions, development strategies have legitimized environmental destruction and the dispossession of communities’ living spaces. Nickel mining projects, the Rempang industrial zone, the Wadas case—even the development of the new capital city, which claims to be a green, low-emission capital—have driven environmental damage and the erosion of people’s rights,” he added.
Indigenous Peoples, Farmers, Fishers, and Vulnerable Groups at Risk
The Recommendations for a Just SNDC document outlines how vulnerable communities continue to suffer—both from climate impacts and from the policies and projects carried out in the name of addressing them—despite not being responsible for climate change in the first place.
Take Indigenous Peoples, for example. In the previous commitment document—the Enhanced Nationally Determined Contribution (ENDC) released in 2022—the Government stated its commitment to upholding the obligation to respect and promote human rights and Indigenous Peoples’ rights in tackling climate change.
Yet the most basic demand—formal recognition and protection of Indigenous territories and all related rights—has been neglected. The Indigenous Territory Registration Agency has independently registered 30.2 million hectares of Indigenous territories, including 23.2 million hectares of customary forests. But over the ten years of President Joko Widodo’s administration, only 1.1% of customary forests—just 265,250 hectares—have been officially recognized.
“Although Indigenous Peoples make up only 6.2% of the global population, they protect 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity and safeguard one-third of the world’s remaining natural forests,” said Ihsan Maulana, Policy Advocacy and Researcher at WGII.
From coastal communities, a 2023 survey by the Indonesian Traditional Fishers Union (KNTI) shows that the impacts of climate change on traditional fishers are significant: 72% reported declining catches, 83% saw reduced income, and 86% said climate change has increased the risk of accidents at sea.
“This situation highlights the critical challenges faced by traditional fishers due to climate change. While the state promotes fish as a source of nutritious food, the conditions of traditional fishers continue to worsen,” said Hendra Wiguna, Chair of the Indonesian Coastal Students, Youth, and Fisherfolk Association (KPPMPI), an autonomous body under KNTI.
For women, climate-driven drought has been shown to place an additional burden on efforts to secure water and food for their families. In Kalikur and Tobotani villages in Lembata, East Nusa Tenggara, women must walk for kilometers to find water.
Among Dayak Ngaju women in Kapuas Regency, planting cycles no longer match the seasons, meaning women are no longer able to plant more nutritious local seeds and instead must buy food from outside their villages. In urban areas, household spending has also risen due to the cost of clean water.
“Even though women are among the most vulnerable groups, they also demonstrate the strongest resilience in facing climate change,” said Andriyeni, Program Coordinator at Solidaritas Perempuan.
For persons with disabilities, climate change heightens vulnerability as they face structural barriers and discrimination due to limited access to resources and strategic information.
“When climate disasters strike, persons with disabilities often become layered victims, with mortality rates four times higher because of the lack of inclusive access and support,” said Fatum Ade, Advocacy Coordinator at Perhimpunan Jiwa Sehat (PJS).
According to Masagus Fathan of Climate Rangers Jakarta, net-zero commitments must also address intergenerational justice through partnerships and community-based funding distribution. The IPCC Synthesis Report 2023 indicates that, across multiple scenarios, people born between 1980 and 2020 are expected to experience lifetime temperature increases 0.5–3°C higher than those born between 1950 and 1980.
Syaharani, Acting Head of Environmental Governance and Climate Justice at the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL), emphasized that transitioning to renewable energy is the first prerequisite for achieving climate justice.
“This second NDC needs to target 60% renewable energy by 2030, in line with the 1.5°C pathway,” she said.
From an urban perspective, Abdul Ghofar, Campaign Manager for Pollution and Urban Issues at WALHI, noted that waste-sector emissions ranked among the top three highest during 2015–2022, increasing by 33.47% over seven years—from 97.539 gigatons of carbon dioxide in 2015 to 130.188 GtCO₂e in 2022.
“The Government must take serious and ambitious steps to reduce emissions from the waste sector, particularly by cutting methane from domestic solid waste—through reducing organic waste sent to landfills and other measures such as banning open waste burning, closed incineration in waste-to-energy facilities, and co-firing in coal power plants and cement factories,” he said.
In line with this, Nadia Hadad, Executive Director of Yayasan MADANI Berkelanjutan, stressed that protecting ecosystems across entire landscapes must be a priority in responding to the climate crisis. In the ENDC, the forestry and land-use sector (FOLU) bears 55% of Indonesia’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction burden. As a result, FOLU is often seen primarily as a carbon sink—when its role goes far beyond carbon.
“Emission reduction efforts must be seen holistically and ecosystem-based—not only focused on carbon economics, but on ensuring that communities have the capacity to survive amid the climate crisis,” Nadia said.
Therefore, in response to Indonesia’s ongoing democratic and climate crises, civil society organizations are urging the Government of Indonesia to take immediate, decisive action:
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Safeguarding democracy and constitutionally guaranteed human rights: The coalition urges the government to protect democratic principles, ensure that the voices of all groups, especially vulnerable ones, are heard and respected in climate-related decision-making. It also calls for an end to all forms of repression that prevent citizens from expressing opinions and exercising freedom of expression.
Recognition and protection of vulnerable groups: The coalition urges the government to recognize and protect the rights and needs of vulnerable groups, including their intersectionality, in all climate actions in Indonesia. Recognition and protection of vulnerable subjects must be clearly stated in the “Just Transition” section of the SNDC and integrated into all climate mitigation and adaptation strategies and actions.
Meaningful public participation: The coalition urges the government to implement meaningful public participation throughout all processes and stages of climate action in Indonesia, including establishing mechanisms for meaningful public engagement in the formulation and implementation of policies derived from the SNDC.
Just climate action: The coalition urges the government to ensure that all climate actions provide greater benefits to vulnerable groups, while placing a greater share of the emissions reduction burden on groups that emit the most, particularly those who have gained prosperity from the release of greenhouse gas emissions.
Commitment to restoring rights and living space: The coalition urges the government to complement its climate commitments with strategies to restore the living spaces and rights of vulnerable groups who are victims of climate change impacts, climate actions, and development activities, as well as to ensure law enforcement against environmental destroyers and human rights violators, including by revising laws and regulations that grant impunity to perpetrators of environmental crimes and human rights violations.
Adopting an integrated climate approach: The coalition urges the government to adopt an integrated climate mitigation and adaptation approach focused on landscape resilience to guarantee the right to safe and sustainable living space for all.
Additional Explanation:
The Second Climate Commitment, or the Second Nationally Determined Contribution (SNDC), is currently being prepared by the Government of Indonesia. In September 2024, the Government of Indonesia plans to submit the SNDC document to the UNFCCC Secretariat (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). As part of the mandate of the Paris Agreement, each Party—including Indonesia—is required to contribute to reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions to achieve the global target of limiting global warming to no more than one point five degrees Celsius by the end of this century. This year marks the fourth time the Government of Indonesia has submitted an update of its national climate commitment since 2015.
Although the SNDC is Indonesia’s commitment to fulfilling the global agreement, it also reflects a policy framework containing strategies, actions, and mitigation and adaptation measures necessary to address climate change domestically. Previously, in the latest climate commitment (ENDC), the Government of Indonesia updated its emissions reduction target to 31.89 percent through its own efforts and 43.20 percent with international assistance from a Business as Usual scenario by 2030. In order to maintain the safe limit of one point five degrees Celsius, the global community acknowledges that Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission reductions need to be set more ambitiously. However, learning from previous commitments and climate actions in Indonesia over the past 10 years, such climate actions risk exacerbating inequality and injustice, which are the root causes of climate change, if there is no strong commitment to climate justice.
In previous commitments, although the Government of Indonesia had targets for GHG emissions reduction and adaptation, the document did not explicitly adopt the principle of climate justice. In fact, climate justice, respect for Indigenous Peoples, human rights, and the protection of vulnerable groups have been recognized in the Paris Agreement and various COP decisions. Therefore, climate justice should be operationalized in the Second NDC. Climate Justice, which encompasses the dimensions of procedural justice, distributive justice, recognitional justice, and restorative justice, centers Indonesia’s development agenda in achieving its 2045 Golden Vision, aligning not only with Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions reduction but also with the protection and fulfillment of human rights.
In a rapid review conducted by civil society in April 2024 of the ENDC document released in 2022, civil society assessed that the document still provided minimal recognition of the diversity of vulnerable subjects. Second, the Government of Indonesia’s commitment did not yet have adequate participation mechanisms. Third, the document did not include proportional targets for distributing the burdens and benefits of climate actions. Fourth, the ENDC document did not contain strategies for restoring environmental damage and rights violations inherent in greenhouse gas emissions in Indonesia.
In reality, the massive release of GHG emissions over the past 20 years has enriched a small elite in Indonesia that supports the ruling regime. The vulnerability of subjects affected by climate change impacts appears to be neglected. In fact, under the pretext of reducing greenhouse gas emissions targets, development strategies and climate actions by the Government of Indonesia have legitimized ongoing environmental destruction and the dispossession of rights to living space.
Considering the lack of meaningful involvement of vulnerable groups in the series and process of drafting the SNDC, since February 2024, the Civil Society Coalition for a Just SNDC has undertaken a strategic initiative aimed at collectively mobilizing and compiling content and inputs to the SNDC document to ensure that the rights of vulnerable subjects are mainstreamed and accommodated in every climate action and policy based on their different barriers, vulnerabilities, and needs.
In the process, until August 2024, the Civil Society Group for a Just SNDC prepared an input document through the Recommendations for Indonesia’s Just Second Nationally Determined Contribution (Second NDC), which introduces the content of Climate Justice into Indonesia’s Second NDC. In line with these recommendations, the Civil Society Coalition for a Just SNDC urges the Government of Indonesia to:
First, explicitly recognize the diversity of vulnerable subjects and their intersectionality, who experience different impacts, needs, and capacities. This recognition embodies the dimension of recognitional justice.
Second, ensure meaningful public participation in the drafting and implementation of the SNDC, particularly for vulnerable subjects including women and children, older persons and youth, persons with disabilities, smallholder farmers, workers and informal laborers, traditional fishers, fisherwomen and coastal communities, Indigenous Peoples, and the urban poor, through but not limited to open and adequate disclosure of information, access, participation, and oversight that are accountable, accessible, and inclusive. This is to ensure that the rights and needs of vulnerable subjects are accommodated in all processes and stages of the NDC drafting as an embodiment of procedural justice.
In reality, the Government of Indonesia still faces challenges in implementing substantive democracy, as indicated by the significant decline in Indonesia’s democracy quality index (Freedom House, 2023). Meaningful public participation in every stage of drafting regulations and policies is a key prerequisite for establishing enabling conditions for quality democracy. The increasing and expanding impacts of the climate crisis on the earth and human life—especially for vulnerable subjects such as women and children, older persons and youth, persons with disabilities, smallholder farmers, workers and informal laborers, traditional fishers, fisherwomen and coastal communities, Indigenous Peoples, and the urban poor—mean they bear the heaviest threats and impacts in the climate crisis situation. Therefore, the current SNDC drafting process must guarantee and ensure meaningful participation of vulnerable subjects, so that the substance of the SNDC will contribute to their resilience and protection from climate change impacts.
During the People’s Consultation process organized by ARUKI (People’s Alliance for the Climate Justice Bill), vulnerable subjects stated that their rights to information and meaningful involvement in the drafting of climate policies and actions were not fulfilled. As a result, existing climate policies and actions do not contribute to strengthening the adaptive capacity of vulnerable subjects; instead, they are seen as worsening their ability to respond to the climate crisis. For persons with disabilities, climate change is perceived as an elitist, masculine, and ableist issue because it is difficult to understand, as the state’s information approach does not take into account the barriers and needs of different types of disabilities.
Third, the SNDC document must ensure a proportional mechanism for distributing burdens and benefits. The distributive dimension of climate justice aims to address inequality by distributing the benefits of climate action more substantially to vulnerable subjects. Conversely, climate action must emphasize that the burden of emissions reduction is distributed more heavily to groups that emit more and have gained prosperity from the release of GHG emissions.
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Fourth, given that various groups become vulnerable due to social structures as well as development actions that damage living spaces and rights, the Government of Indonesia’s commitment needs to be complemented with strategies to restore living spaces and rights for victims affected by climate change impacts, climate actions, and development. This aims to ensure that no one is left behind in climate action. In fact, the restoration of living spaces and rights is an absolute prerequisite for victims to be able to face the impacts of climate change. As an embodiment of restorative/corrective principles and dimensions, beyond restoration, Indonesia’s future commitments must also ensure law enforcement against environmental destroyers and human rights violators. Moreover, the Government of Indonesia needs to commit to revising a number of laws and regulations that provide space for impunity for perpetrators of environmental destruction and human rights violations.
Fifth, the SNDC needs to adopt a new paradigm that goes beyond merely reducing emissions. This approach is the landscape resilience approach, which encompasses ecosystem resilience, social resilience, and economic resilience by recognizing the different situations and impacts experienced by each vulnerable group. The SNDC document being prepared by the Government of Indonesia needs to prioritize an integrated approach between mitigation and adaptation aspects to guarantee the right to safe and sustainable living spaces for all groups, enabling them to face the challenges of change and live more prosperous lives both materially and spiritually. With the principles of climate justice and landscape resilience, climate action does not only focus on emissions mitigation, but also on improving community welfare, social protection, environmental protection, and overall landscape resilience. This approach requires collaboration, participation, and equality to build a more just and sustainable future.
Operationally, civil society proposes that the dimensions of climate justice and the landscape resilience approach be applied across seven thematic areas with specific priorities.
These themes are:
Just energy transition: Ensuring a fair, affordable, and democratic energy transition by prioritizing community-managed renewable energy, as well as environmental restoration and the restoration of the rights of affected communities during the operation of dirty energy.
Green industry: Promoting environmentally friendly and socially just industries by creating decent jobs and protecting workers’ rights.
Ecosystem protection: Halting deforestation and protecting and restoring ecosystems by recognizing the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities and ensuring sustainable management.
Food sovereignty: Building fair and sustainable food systems based on local food by supporting the protection of small-scale food producers (farmers and fishers) and promoting food sovereignty.
Fulfillment of the right to water and sanitation: Restoring water catchment areas and water sources, and ensuring fair and affordable access to clean water and safe and sustainable sanitation.
Inclusive and sustainable settlements and infrastructure: Developing climate-resilient and inclusive infrastructure that takes into account the needs of vulnerable groups.
Social protection and livelihoods: Strengthening climate-responsive social protection systems and creating fair and sustainable livelihood opportunities.
Contacts:
Torry Kuswardono, Executive Director of Yayasan Pikul, torry@pikul.id, +62 811-383-270
Hendra Wiguna, Chair of the Indonesian Coastal Students, Youth, and Fisherfolk Association (KPPMPI), hwiguna16@gmail.com, +62 856-0022-366
Ihsan Maulana, Policy Engagement Officer, Working Group ICCAs Indonesia (WGII), ihsanmaulana1@gmail.com, +62 812-9290-9933
Andriyeni, Program Coordinator, Solidaritas Perempuan, andriyeni@solidaritasperempuan.org, +62 812-6790-950
Fatum Ade, Advocacy Coordinator, Perhimpunan Jiwa Sehat (PJS), fatumade24@gmail.com, +62 822-2664-730
Abdul Ghofar, Campaign Manager for Pollution and Urban Issues, WALHI, ghofar@walhi.or.id, +62 856-4552-0982
Nadia Hadad, Executive Director, MADANI Berkelanjutan, nadia@madaniberkelanjutan.id, +62 811-132-081
References
Intended NDC or First NDC (2015), Updated NDC (2021), Enhanced NDC (2022), and the Second Nationally Determined Contribution or SNDC (2024).
