Carbon Colonialism in the Paris Agreement Era Toward Environmental Advocacy and Ecological Justice in Indonesia

¹ Faculty of Law, State University of Surabaya, Surabaya, Indonesia
² Faculty of Law, Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom

^* Corresponding author: meitariyanti@unesa.ac.id

Abstract

The proliferation of carbon market mechanisms post-Paris Agreement presents a mixed bag of opportunities for climate change mitigation and legal/social challenges in Indonesia Tropical forest/peat land-based carbon projects are often on customary (adat) lands, creating an interface between global ecological interests and local community rights. This article examines the domestic and global law of carbon trading, charts the practice of carbon colonialism in Indonesia, and employs Sustainable Development Goal 15: Life on Land to evaluate its compatibility. Using a factual–normative legal approach within the framework of environmental advocacy, this study argues that although Presidential Regulation No. 98 of 2021 and OJK Regulation No. 14/POJK.04/2023 have established carbon trading through the national carbon exchange, both fail to ensure the principles of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) and equitable benefit sharing for Indigenous communities. For this reason, law must serve as a mechanism for environmental mobilization and ecological justice to ensure carbon governance adheres with SDG 15 and the rights of Indigenous peoples.