PUBLICATIONS

PSN are granted legal privileges that allow projects to bypass forest protection and spatial planning procedures, leading to large-scale deforestation. This is evident in the loss of hundreds to thousands of hectares of forest, including on Obi Island and in the Merauke Food Estate, even encroaching on protected forest areas.

Regulatory leniency for PSN has resulted in serious environmental damage, such as pollution and ecological degradation from nickel mining in Hakatutobu Village. Project implementation has also frequently violated environmental law by disregarding public participation rights and the principle of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC).

PSN directly threaten Indonesia’s climate commitments, including its NDC and FOLU Net Sink 2030 targets, by driving deforestation and rising emissions. The Merauke Food Estate alone is projected to add hundreds of millions of tons of CO₂ emissions, while PSN are also granted exemptions for the construction of new coal-fired power plants.