Indonesia's Economic Recovery Plan Includes Massive Environmental Damage and Human Rights Violations

The Indonesian government plans to prioritise 89 projects on its road to economic recovery after the coronavirus. These projects are expected to generate $100bn, but they will also cause massive deforestation, peatland destruction, ocean pollution and enormous carbon emissions and violate indigenous rights.

The government issued new regulations on expropriation to make it simpler for companies and entrepreneurs to occupy community land, including indigenous areas, and clear forests on them. This presents a threat to indigenous people's livelihoods and culture and possibly even their lives, as some companies have resorted to murder when land conflicts emerge between themselves and indigenous communities.

The projects the Indonesian government has identified as priorities include nickel smelters that have applied to dump toxic waste into the ocean, a rice estate expected to cover 900,000 ha of carbon-rich peatlands and a railway. Peatlands have a greater carbon storage capacity than trees and are therefore among the most vital ecosystems in the fight against climate change. When a peatland is drained, the carbon stored within it is released back into the atmosphere, where it contributes to global warming.