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Jokowi’s deregulating can cripple Indonesia’s climate plan
Deregulation includes discarding environment impact assessments for projects and depriving local governments of the power to issue permits for natural resource exploitation.
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Burned down: Smoldering peatland is pictured in Kampar, Riau province, on Sept. 17, 2019. Indonesia fought forest fires causing toxic haze across Southeast Asia with aircraft, artificial rain and even prayer. (AFP/Adek Berry)
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fter Joko “Jokowi” Widodo became president on Oct. 20, 2014, he swiftly consolidated Indonesia’s climate agenda with a series of assertive acts.
Jokowi created the Environment and Forestry Ministry, which has a climate change director general. He maintained a special envoy on climate change. He announced at the Paris climate summit on Nov. 30, 2015, Indonesia’s plan to reduce carbon emissions by 29 percent by 2030 and 41 percent with international cooperation. In January 2016 he established the Peat Restoration Agency (BRG) to revive 2.4 million hectares of Indonesia’s damaged peatland.
Now in his second term, Jokowi’s climate drive seems to have slackened. The first sign of this is that he dissolved the office of the President’s special envoy on climate change.
In his 2019 campaign, then presidential candidate Jokowi issued a 35-page vision-mission statement.
Climate change mitigation, action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, got buried in plank 4, sub-plank 4.2, of Jokowi’s nine plank platform. In that sub-plank, Jokowi pledged to prevent forest fires, regreen degraded land, develop renewable energy, continue to conserve (not restore) peatland, decrease carbon emissions and improve environment-friendly mass transportation, enhance environment conservation education, and multiply forest-cities and green open spaces. All seven pledges are a welcome mouthful.
However, this noble intent apparently is not getting the full measure of implementation. Why?
First, in his inaugural address after taking his oath of office on Oct. 20, 2019, Jokowi spelt out a five-point program for his second five-year term.
