ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND CLIMATE POLICY: ḤIFẒ AL-BĪʾAH AND THE DESIGN OF REGULATORY RESPONSIBILITY

Abstract

Indonesian environmental law contains strong liability and participation instruments, yet recent regulatory reform has reoriented licensing towards investment facilitation while climate policy instruments remain partially deferred, raising the question of who bears the burden of environmental harm and on what principled basis. This study aims to analyse the shift in Indonesia's regulatory architecture from precaution to facilitation, to assess the contribution of Islamic legal doctrine to environmental responsibility, and to formulate criteria for a just allocation of regulatory duty. The research applies normative juridical research with statutory, conceptual, case and comparative approaches, supported by a maqāṣid reading of the protection of the environment, drawing on Indonesian environmental and climate legislation, domestic and foreign judicial decisions, and the environmental justice literature. The findings show that the principal deficits are procedural and executional rather than substantive: participation has been narrowed in the licensing process, favourable judgments in pollution and forest fire litigation encounter persistent execution failure, and the deferral of carbon pricing shifts adjustment costs onto future and marginal populations. Islamic legal doctrine contributes operative rather than rhetorical resources through protected zones, the prohibition of harm, stewardship and the ban on wastefulness. The study recommends restoring precaution in licensing, guaranteeing standing and participation, ensuring execution of environmental judgments, and applying an explicit burden-sharing test to climate instruments.