Integration of Indigenous Peoples’ Protection with Environmental Sustainability as an Impact of Environmental Change

Abstrakt

Climate change is not merely an environmental phenomenon but a profound challenge to the relationship between law and social justice. In Indonesia, Indigenous Peoples, whose cultural survival and livelihoods are tied to forests and ecosystems, face disproportionate risks from rising temperatures, deforestation, and extractive industries. Communities such as the Dayak in Kalimantan, the Baduy in Banten, and the Orang Rimba in Jambi exemplify how environmental degradation intersects with long-standing marginalization and weak legal recognition of customary rights. This paper examines how Indonesia’s legal framework mediates the nexus between climate governance and social justice. It focuses on the tension between the Job Creation Law (Law No. 11/2020), which prioritizes investment through centralized licensing and reduced environmental safeguards, and the Draft Law on Indigenous Peoples (RUU MA), which aims to formalize recognition of customary territories, participatory rights, and the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC). Employing a normative and literature-based analysis, the study draws upon constitutional jurisprudence, international human rights instruments (UNDRIP, ILO Convention No. 169), and climate justice frameworks (UNFCCC, Cancun Safeguards) to evaluate how law can either perpetuate or mitigate social inequality. The findings indicate that regulatory incoherence weakens constitutional guarantees and fractures the social bond linking law, environment, and vulnerable communities. The paper proposes a rights-based model of climate governance that positions Indigenous Peoples as partners in climate solutions, reaffirming law’s potential to foster, not fracture, social cohesion and justice.