In 2015 and 2019 massive forest fires in Indonesia shrouded its neighbours in smoke. The haze caused respiratory and other heath problems for residents of Singapore and Malaysia, and the carbon and heat emitted from these fires pushed the achievement of Indonesia’s international greenhouse gas emissions targets further out of reach. 80% of Indonesia’s total emissions come from forest degradation and misuse.  The fires and the haze they caused are the consequence of decades long industrial-scale destruction of the forests and carbon-rich peatlands of the world’s third largest tropical fore ..read more

Indonesia's general election in 2024 will be a big one.  Young voters have helped decide the last two general elections. It was millennials behind online movements, like Kawal Pemilu, which helped young Indonesians closely monitor the election results in 2014 and 2019.  However, this time, a new generation comes of age: Generation Z. And with them, a new online movement has emerged in the form of Bijak Memilih, a website helping young Indonesian's better understand the political landscape - its parties, its candidates, and their track records and policies - before they vote. It began ..read more

Indonesia is an important global hub for minerals and resource extraction. The value of its metallic minerals and coal industry in 2020 was the ninth-largest in the world. Indonesia’s extractive sector accounts for 25 percent of exports and it is also an important source of economic growth, government revenue, employment and technology transfer. But, at the same time, scholarship has documented how extractive industries have generated social conflict, from armed separatism to political protest and high-profile legal disputes. From Aceh to West Papua’s notorious Grasberg mine, extractive indust ..read more

Talking Indonesia’s guest this week, Kevin O’Rourke, has been watching Indonesia closely for many years. He dodged tanks in his Toyota Kijang during the May 1998 riots, started the Reformasi Weekly newsletter in 2003, and launched the podcast Reformasi Dispatch with journalist Jeff Hutton in 2021. Podcasting is becoming an important medium in Indonesia, and we like to think Talking Indonesia and Reformasi Dispatch are both pioneering podcasts about Indonesia. In February this year, Jeff and Kevin kindly invited Talking Indonesia co-host Tito Ambyo to join Reformasi Dispatch. In this episode Ti ..read more

Indonesian literature in translation In recent years the international profile of Indonesian literature has been given a substantial boost. Indonesian authors and their work was highlighted at major book fairs in Europe and given a special place within the cultural and commercial programs at these events, and also backed by funding from the Ministry for Education and Culture and the Agency for Creative Economy (Bekraf). It was hoped that an international boon for Indonesian literature would follow. Indeed, in the past decade the names of Indonesian writers such as Ayu Utami and Eka Kurniawan h ..read more

Associate Professor Eka Permanasari - Building the New Capital In late February, Joko Widodo’s official social media feed showed him conducting the affairs of state from a small hut set amongst a forest of trees. This was his second overnight stay on the site of the future Presidential Palace in the yet to be built new capital city (Ibu Kota Negara, IKN). Since announcing the move from Jakarta to East Kalimantan in 2019, this has become a pet project for the second term president, which many interpret to be his final legacy before he steps away from the top job in 2024. The idea to move the ca ..read more

ronmental Program has identified Indonesia as one of 17 "megadiverse" countries, making it highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Yet the country also ranks among the top-10 emitters of greenhouse gases in the world, largely because of its forestry, land use and energy sectors. The Indonesian Constitution provides for environmental protection, and sustainability is critical to its National Development Plan. But Indonesia has no specific law to deal with its National Action Plan on Climate Change or its international commitments to reduce carbon emissions. Its pledge to reduce emis ..read more

The cryptocurrency market in Indonesia is booming. In 2022, the country recorded 14 million cryptocurrency investors, much higher than the number of Indonesians who invest in the stock market. Last month, President Joko Widodo signed off on a new law that aims to provide greater clarity on how cryptocurrency is regulated. The new law transfers cryptocurrency regulatory powers from the commodities watchdog Bappebti (Badan Pengawas Perdagangan Berjangka Komoditi) to the Financial Services Authority (Otoritas Jasa Keuangan, OJK), effectively switching the classification of cryptocurrency from com ..read more

On 11 January, President Joko Widodo gave a national address in which he acknowledged gross violations of human rights had occurred in Indonesia and expressed his regret and sympathy for the victims. He referred to 12 incidents involving historical rights violations, including the 1965-66 killings, the extrajudicial killings of criminals in the 1980s (known as Petrus), kidnappings and disappearances of students and activists in the late 1990s, the Talangsari incident in Lampung in 1989, and a number of events in Aceh and Papua. Jokowi made the statement at an event where he accepted the recomm ..read more

Indonesia has expressed persistent reservations about AUKUS, the security pact reached in secret between Australia, the US and the UK and announced in September 2021. Under the pact, the three allies will share defence capabilities, with the initial headline item being Australia’s acquisition of a fleet of nuclear-powered but conventionally-armed submarines. When AUKUS was announced, Indonesia's Foreign Ministry issued a statement expressing caution. In 2022, Indonesia also submitted a working paper to a UN review of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty critical of the transfer of submarine nu ..read more