Indonesia Environmental Diplomacy Reformed: Case Studies of Greening Asean Way and Peat Restoration Agency

Abstract

There is an increasing pessimism on the role of state as the guardian of environmental livelihood due to the recurring of environmental disasters. Moving to a new global environmental governance seems inevitable due to the importance of economic development and social justice within the classical definition of environmental diplomacy.By using the case of “greening ASEAN Way” and the establishment of Indonesia’s peat restoration agency, this article attempted to reinvigorate environmental diplomacy using English School theoretical framework. This research obtained primary data from semi-structured interview with Indonesian officials in Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Peat Restoration Agency as well as from the observation of the implementation of peatland restoration in Indonesia.This research has three conclusions. Firstly, Indonesia is an important actor in the mitigation of many regional and global environmental issues including forest fires and transboundary haze. Secondly, the ratification of ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution and the establishment of peat restoration agency are part of the reinvigoration of Indonesia environmental diplomacy. Lastly, Indonesia’s reformed environmental diplomacy still faced problem on the relationship between central government and local government.

Peat fires in Brunei Darussalam: considerations for ASEAN haze cooperation and emerging regional infrastructure development

“…On the ground, these programmes mainly focused on managing community and agribusiness practices on peatlands and mitigating related fires in these contexts (Ramirez, 2020; Tacconi et al ., 2007; Koh, 2013; Robertua & Sigalingging, 2019; Chin et al ., 2012), with little to no importance placed on mitigating infrastructure‐related peatland degradation or fires. Furthermore, SUPA, for example, lists Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Lao PDR, and Myanmar as target areas, but not Brunei.…”

The Reconstruction of Indonesia's Mangrove Diplomacy

“…A debate regarding responsibility between the North and the South is an example of the conflict between environmental protection and social justice at the global level (Benedick 1999). Robertua and Sigalingging (2019) highlighted that there is pessimism from other countries toward the implementation of Indonesia's environmental diplomacy. The problem of north-south division, lack of coordination between the international organization, and domination of the profit sector hindered the effectiveness of Indonesia's environmental diplomacy.…”

“…The problem of north-south division, lack of coordination between the international organization, and domination of the profit sector hindered the effectiveness of Indonesia's environmental diplomacy. However, Robertua and Sigalingging (2019) argued that the implementation of the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution and the construction of the Peat Restoration Agency marked a new shift from the naming-and-shaming approach to consultation and dialogue in addressing transboundary environmental problems in Southeast Asia including forest fires.…”

The Post – Asean’s Haze-Free Roadmap 2020 and Implementation of Precautionary Principle in Indonesia’s Environmental Diplomacy: Riau’s Perspective

“…Jokowi believes in inward-looking oriented foreign policy (Situmorang 2015) and result-driven diplomacy (Qin 2019). It is no wonder that he puts more attention on domestic priorities (Rosyidin 2017), and in the context of environmental diplomacy he prioritizes internal consolidation in order to create an impact on bilateral and multilateral negotiation (Robertua and Sigalingging 2019). Although president Jokowi's administration precautionary efforts have been emphasized on domestic approach in handling the land and forest fires, the fires kept raging in the last 5 years and the 2019 haze crisis brought back the memory of 2015 severe land and forest fires.…”