Climate Change and Local Legislation: Recent Developments

As of 2025, according to the CCPI (Climate Change Performance Index), Indonesia falls six places from the previous year— landing Indonesia to rank 42nd globally. With an overall low rating in GHG (Green House Gases) Emissions, Energy Use, and Climate Policy; in addition to a medium rating in Renewable Energy (Climate Change Performance Index, 2025). Although Indonesia has a ‘Net Zero Target’ goal by 2060, the country’s overall ranking remains critically insufficient. Under the newly-inaugurated administration of President Prabowo Subianto, new ambitions are in place (Climate Action Tracker, 2024). With new plans to climate and energy policies, President Prabowo Subianto reinstated Indonesia's commitment in recent 2025 BRICS summit: “Emphasized that Indonesia is already experiencing tangible impacts of climate change, and he reaffirmed Indonesia’s dedication to tackling climate change, particularly through the implementation of clean energy initiatives”(Cabinet Secretariat of RI).

Despite national experts critiquing that the NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution) draft did not align with the Paris Agreement, Indonesia keeps their burning passion in progressive climate action (Climate Change Performance Index, 2025). Being a signatory and having already ratified both the Paris Agreement—-since 2016—and the Kyoto Protocol—since 2004—, Indonesia stands with the world against the fight of climate change (United Nations Climate Change).

Within the years, Indonesia have faced a variety of environmental issues; including but not limited to: climate change, deforestation, land degradation, IUU (Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated) fishing, air pollution, clean water crisis, waste, and the rise of sea levels (Nurhayati, Sri 2024). With the persistent humanitarian violence and other issues, environmental policies are being challenged to be brought upon; an increase in climate ambitions are highly needed to achieve a sustainable and green Indonesia (Climate Change Performance Index, 2025). Indonesia’s local legislation holds a crucial role in translating their national commitments to climate action.


With that, here is a brief overview of Indonesia’s existing and updated laws that plays an important role in Indonesia’s climate action plan:

1. UU No. 32 of 2009 (UU PPLH), serves as an umbrella law for all environmentally-related policies in Indonesia. The ‘Undang-Undang’ establishes concrete principles of sustainable development, the public’s participation, and their right of a healthy environment. Additionally, this law also regulates the planning, utilization, control, maintenance, and enforcement of environmental law (Putri, Vanya 2021).

2. PP No. 26 2025 (PPRI PPLH) is one of the regulations introduced by the government in 2025 in which it regulates the planning, protection, and management of the environment. Environmental protection and management planning is carried out—under this document—through these stages: environmental inventory; determination of ecoregion areas; and formulating a structured, legally binding plan (RRPLH). The RPPLH (Rencana Perlindungan dan Pengelolaan Lingkungan Hidup) will serve as a planning instrument mandated by UU No. 32 of 2009 (Database Peraturan, 2025).

3. PP No. 27 2025 (PPRI PPEM) is also one of the regulations introduced by the government in 2025, focusing on the protection and management of mangrove ecosystems. The mangrove ecosystem forms a comprehensive and unified forefront that creates balance, stability, and productivity. Their protection and management are carried out in forest areas, both inside and outside (Database Peraturan, 2025).

These laws enable Indonesia to continue growing and developing their climate.

Indonesia had made significant steps and most notably achieved—including but not limited to—these in the following. In Central Java, the provincial government released a government regulation or ‘Peraturan Gubernur’ No. 90 2021, to set forward a development plan in regards to climate resilience and low carbon emissions (Rencana Pembangunan Rendah Karbon Tanah Iklim) (Database Peraturan, 2021). Moreover, in the same year, Jakarta—Indonesia’s capital city—introduced a ‘low-emission zone’ in Kota Tua. This measure was taken to reduce air pollution in the region by transforming motorized vehicle traffic spaces to pedestrian-only spaces to improve urban air quality (Nemesis, Carlo 2024). These serve as examples of Indonesia’s comprehensive steps in achieving a cleaner sky in Indonesia. In addition to this, Bali—Indonesia’s hottest tourist spot—issued a ban on small plastic bottles. Banning the creation, selling, and distribution of single-use small plastics; the region aims to reduce plastic waste, protect natural beauty, and foster sustainable tourism (Merusaka Nusa Dua, 2025).

These three are just a fraction of Indonesia’s fight against climate change. Yet, deriving just from these three solutions, we can still identify issues in their implementation.

We can identify that these three were centralized in three different locations—Central Java, Jakarta, and Bali—showing the fragmentation in the adoption of these legislation nation-wide. The lack of uniformity across the nation poses an alarming issue as the gap between national commitments and local progress is inconsistent, slowing down overall progress to reach Indonesia’s NDC under the Paris Agreement. Their ability to comply with the Paris Agreement relies on central-local coordination, however, as recent analysis shows, many local governments lack the capacity to fully grasp national climate targets in their action; risking slower progress in Indonesia’s fight against climate change (Fatimah, Haryanto, Retnandari 2024). Moreover, the implementation of ‘Peraturan Gubernun’ may give clear instructional strategies but often face obstacles that include: structural limitations, cultural resistance, and limited human resources capacity (Bhawono, Sawung 2025).

In conclusion, Indonesia has made significant steps in achieving their goals. Although this article did not encompass every single development Indonesia made, the article brought up its core issues in the coherence and uniformity of the nation’s implementations. However, this article should not be marked to have a negative tone, but rather to serve as a learning curve in Indonesia’s future strategies.



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