Indonesia links waste crisis to climate justice push

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Environment has emphasized that addressing the national waste crisis comprehensively is a key to achieving climate justice in Indonesia.

Environment Minister Jumhur Hidayat stated that poor waste management directly contributes to global warming through methane emissions, which threaten ecological stability and public welfare.

"We must ensure that efforts to resolve the waste problem are carried out thoroughly and completely," Hidayat said at the World Environment Day event themed "Indonesia's Green Movement: Time to Work for Climate Justice" here on Saturday.

Hidayat noted that Indonesia currently generates up to 51 million tons of waste annually. However, 74 percent of the waste is not managed optimally, with most of it ending up in landfills that still rely on open dumping practices.

The accumulation of unsorted waste has triggered an environmental emergency, as it releases methane gas, which has a warming effect around 30 times greater than carbon dioxide (CO2), thereby exacerbating hydrometeorological disasters in coastal areas where around 60 percent of the human population lives.

To strengthen legal commitments to addressing these impacts, the ministry is currently finalizing a climate justice bill that will provide a comprehensive framework for environmental governance.

The government is mulling over two legal approaches for the proposed regulation, drafting it as a standalone law or incorporating it as a new chapter into Law No. 32 of 2009 on Environmental Protection and Management.

Through the proposed climate justice Bill, the government also plans to regulate carbon trading to ensure that it is not dominated by speculators, but instead delivers the greatest share of benefits and economic gains to local communities.

"The government's message is clear, carbon trading must not become a playground for speculators. It must serve as an important instrument for empowering communities," Hidayat stated.

Moreover, he explained that if carbon credits are generated from a forest area, mangrove ecosystem, or other locations where local communities live, then those communities should receive the greatest benefits from the carbon trading process.

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Translator: Prasetyo, Kenzu

Editor: M Razi Rahman

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