Indonesia’s Climate Crisis and the Limits of Environmental Legislation

Abstract

Indonesia’s accelerating climate crisis has exposed fundamental weaknesses in the country’s environmental legislative framework. Although Indonesia has various sectoral regulations on environmental protection, mining, energy, and investment, their normative coherence and institutional effectiveness remain insufficient to address the multidimensional impacts of climate change. This research aims to examine the limits of Indonesia’s environmental legislation in responding to the climate crisis, identify the root causes of regulatory inadequacy, and propose directions for legislative reform. This study uses a qualitative normative-juridical method through statutory, conceptual, and doctrinal approaches. The research evaluates primary legislation, secondary regulations, and legal doctrines relevant to climate governance. The findings reveal three major legal shortcomings. First, disharmonization persists between environmental protection norms and sectoral laws, creating normative conflicts that hinder climate-responsive governance. Second, Indonesia lacks a comprehensive Climate Change Act, resulting in regulatory gaps in mitigation, adaptation, emission targets, and state as well as corporate obligations. Third, enforcement mechanisms and accountability instruments remain weakly formulated. This study concludes that strengthening legal harmonization and institutional accountability is essential to build a coherent and science-based climate legislative framework.