Striving for systemic change is like pushing a wheel through mud, it keeps turning but goes nowhere.

That is what many civil society organizations have been doing for years, including those working on environmental issues, from local advocacy to global climate summits. They have mapped out the problems, crafted strategies, designed solutions and organized countless campaigns. Yet, policies continue to serve the same circles of power and wealth.

In short, civil society has the ideas, but not the political leverage to make them real.

So, coinciding with the 30th United Nations Climate Conference (COP30), what is missing from civil society organizations’ strategies for achieving climate justice?

The truth is, the idea that systemic change requires political impetus is not new. Ideas may inspire public awareness and mobilize movements, but without power, they seldom change policy.

This power is not about partisan politics, it is about civic capacity, building alliances, representation and institutional presence.

In Indonesia’s climate and environmental struggle, the key problems are not technical but political. Extractive interests continue to override policymaking, while reforms stall at the elite level. The so-called energy transition plan, for example, later revealed the hand of business interests intent on preserving extraction.