Winning action requires a relentless confrontation with the present capitalist system, not working in alleged partnership with its defenders.
Indonesian Catastrophe Mining Operation. Photo by Frans Ari Prasetyo (24/12/2019)
Four decades of neoliberalism have resulted in extreme levels of emissions and inequality with emerging anger having exceeded immediate economic demands, but the need for system change for political ideas is growing as a result of the climate crisis, energy crisis, food crisis with looming catastrophe. Earth is a system, where everything is connected, changes in one area can influence changes in all others. The consequences of climate change now include, among others, intense droughts, water scarcity, severe fires, rising sea levels, flooding, melting polar ice, catastrophic storms and declining biodiversity. The slogan 'System Change Not Climate Change' is always present at climate protests around the world, including in Indonesia. Slogans remain slogans, but how that change is achieved is obscure. There must be a strong push for revolutionary formulations in the transformation process including this intense confrontation to neoliberalism and the capitalist system, not just a meeting and huddle politics.
It's hard to feel hopeful when world leaders meet again, since the first COP in Berlin 1995. Glasgow COP26 is back with bla..bla..bla and the drama coal cop. The conference is supposed to plan action on agreed climate change to ensure greenhouse gas emissions especially CO2 and methane are cut quickly, limiting the average global temperature rise to 1.5 °C. The Earth is now about 1.1°C warmer than it was in the late 1800s. The last decade 2011-2020 was the warmest on record. Restrictions are only possible if there are fundamental changes to the way economic and social activities are organized around the world but not all countries are willing to do so.
The final declaration at COP26 had changed from phase out the unbated use of coal to phase down. If authoritarianism and neoliberalism are twin disasters, then oil palm and mining which are extractive industries are the other twin disasters of deforestation and ecocide. The failure nightmare of Cop26 reflects a toxic system that will lead us to the edge of a fragile cliff by maintaining a catastrophic and toxic system with greenwashing. Its deeply flawed plan that provides cover for oligarchy, politicians and neoliberalism to preserve the status quo. The Cop26 is to keep the present toxic system in place rather than charting solutions to save the planet and human existence. These summits between international governments, capitalist corporations, and technocrats have led to no results, while the ecological crisis is deepening.
Fossil fuels are fundamental to the operation of capitalism and the world today that serious reductions, if they were even tried under capitalism, would lead to a period of extraordinary economic disruption. Will countries and extractive mining and palm oil companies be willing to respond to ethical imperatives on deforestation despite state-of-the-world regulations to force them? Can a system driven by capital accumulation and extractive industries coexist with a zero-carbon economy, while at the same time, given the power of capital and a structured fossil policy through the exploitation of coal and oil plus aggressive deforestation of monoculture-palm oil plantations becomes a neoliberal recipe of development.
The main reason for Indonesia in COP26 this is for the nation-state-capital complex, i.e. by extra-social structures that create and maintain a managerial class extremely prone to corruption and impunity on the impacts of deforestation, land grabs and carbon emissions method. Looking from commodity production in Indonesia. Based on BP Statistical Review 2021, is the third largest coal producer after China and India but is the largest exporter in the world – supplying energy to many countries, especially China and India. Most of this coal is dredged from Kalimantan. Minerba One Data Indonesia-MODI data of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Indonesia's coal production in 2020 reached 565.75 million tons with exports of 331.84 million tons. The production target for 2021 is 625 million tons. There has never been any effort by Indonesia to reduce production and exports from catastrophic sources of carbon emissions. Meanwhile, in terms of reserves, Indonesia ranks seventh with 34.87 billion tons by the end of 2020. So how do you want to reduce emissions if coal production continues to increase and deforestation continues to occur due to this systemic exploitation. Indonesia is the fourth largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world after China, the US and the European Union, mostly due to high rates of deforestation, peatland fires and coal are responsible for 44% of carbon emissions from fossil fuels globally – more than oil (35%) and natural gas (20%). We look at how fossil fuels are embedded in the way capitalism works.
Besides coal, there is palm oil which is closely related to Indonesia deforestation. In 2020, Indonesia ranks first as an exporter of Crude Palm Oil in the world, reaching 37.3 million tons with a global market share of 55%. The United States Department of Agriculture -USDA in 2019 also reported that Indonesia as the largest consumption reached 12.75 million tons or about 17% of the total world consumption which reached 74.48 million tons. There is no Indonesian policy to suppress palm oil production which destroys tropical forests and peatland areas, especially for Kalimantan. Reforestation and peat restoration are carried out in areas that cannot be planted with palm oil or former palm oil land and ex-mining land, not saving existing forests and peatlands or avoiding fires and mining exploitation. Indonesia has made an enclave as a High Conservation Value, but on the other hand continues to issue permits for mining and palm oil. How do you want to reduce deforestation if permits for expansion of palm oil plantations continue to be given?
In Indonesia, mining oligarchs and palm oil tycoons control access to policy formation, information from within the government, financial institutions, opinion leaders which are facilitated by the power of public officials. Praised by the international world who was stupefied by the pseudo-image of development growth. In the global rents of capitalism, isn't that what it takes to raise capital? Regarding reforestation programs, climate change, carbon emissions and carbon trading, these are projects that will always exist as an effort to be defensive by hiding behind nationalism and economic development to remain a capitalism-neoliberalism global supply chain. It’s fantasy, and we can’t depend on fantasy. They think they can do some version of modified business as usual. They got the politics they wanted at Cop.
The climate catastrophe is an epic war on global neoliberal corporate criminality and state capitalism. We should not kid ourselves. Without radical system change, it’s more likely that dangerous circumstances would be catastrophic. There would be substantial parts of the earth that would be very difficult, even impossible, to survive in.
When the COP26 took place, there was a big flood in Kalimantan for two months and took years to recover socio-economically. A clear proof of deforestation that President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and the Indonesian elite, including mining oligarchs and palm oil tycoons, are trying to deny. It seems that the island of Kalimantan as the lungs of the world will remain a myth. Deforestation of tropical forests for monoculture plantations and mining is the main reason. During the dry season there will always be forest fires deliberately for the expansion of oil palm oil plantations. Then in the rainy season, there will be floods, such as the one that just happened at the beginning of 2021 in the province of South Kalimantan in Barito River watershed and end of year 2021 to early 2022 in the province of West Kalimantan in Sintang District at Kapuas River watershed and it's been going on few weeks. Again, hundred thousand people have been displaced, losing home, their access and living space. Their lives are destroyed by disasters caused by damaged ecosystems.
The cause of this massive flood in the Kapuas river which has experienced severe ecological degradation in upstream because there are dozens of companies controlling hundred thousand hectares of land in West Kalimantan which have turned tropical forests into mining and palm oil, same case in Barito watershed in South Kalimantan, but over all in all Kalimantan is damage. Thus, apart from rivers that are polluted by mining pollution, the carrying capacity of the river environment becomes fragile due to deforestation for oil palm plantations. Then dozens of palm oil companies became heroes of the day by sending aid for flood victims from what they sent before-sending catastrophe.
The COP meeting a decade ago, Indonesia has been praised by the international community for its commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 26% (41% with international assistance) by 2020, so what results are presented in 2021 in this COP21, nothing but remains a praise again. Classy on the outside, crushed on the inside. The two-year moratorium on forest clearing concessions was enforced in 2011 but was violated by Jokowi by issuing the neoliberal recipe Omnibus law. The policy of removing 30% of the forest area by Omnibus law for investment which has just been legalized will make flooding like what happened even more devastating. A disaster designed by the state. The omnibus law No 11/2020 amended some 79 prevailing laws, including the Labor Law, the Environmental Management Law and more than 1,200 articles from labor system and mining regulations to business license and environmental laws including land, among other things, to cut red tape and improve bureaucratic efficiency, particularly in regard to business permits and attract foreign investment. The issuance of the omnibus law by taking advantage of the pandemic situation invited large protests from labor unions, students, anarchists collective and many more grassroot political movement clashes with police and military.
Furthermore, still in Kalimantan, President Jokowi has an ambitious catastrophe project. After winning his second term election in 2019, Jokowi pushed to move the capital to East Kalimantan. At the beginning of 2022 in a hurry and a short process to ratify the New Capital bill Draft, it repeated the same process for Omnibus law. The $35 billion ambitious New Capital project in 256,000 ha (990 sqm) area which is home to rainforests, peatlands, watersheds and important habitat for species such as orangutans etc. Omnibus law and New Capital bill Draft is a neoliberal ecocide project as a state capitalism systemic product.
In COP26 Indonesia has already back-pedaled on its deforestation promise through a tweet from Indonesia Minister of environment - Siti Nurbaya Bakar, forcing Indonesia to (reach) zero deforestation in 2030 is clearly inappropriate and unfair…development (under Jokowi administration) must not stop in the name of carbon emissions or in the name of deforestation. Jokowi denied by revealing that the loss of tropical forest for palm oil had occurred decades ago, but in fact there are 3.2 million hectares of palm oil plantations that have just emerged under Jokowi.
The decline in forest fires in 2020 occurred due to the weakening economy due to Covid19 along with the global health and financial crisis. However, between 2015-19 (Jokowi administration) there were 4.4 million hectares of forest and peatland burned and the majority were converted to palm oil plantations. The 3 million critical lands that have been rehabilitated are mostly land that cannot be extracted and exploited, including ex-mining land and ex-palm oil that are no longer productive. Indonesia's economic growth grew +7.07%, a bombastic spinning perception by using the comparison of the data for the second quarter of 2020/year on year, which has a low base point of -5.3%. In addition, this growth was due to coal exports and sales of emission-producing vehicles which were 758%.
Thousands of agrarian conflicts due to mining and conversion of forests into oil palm plantation areas are the main ones in Indonesia. Jokowi's land reform policy with the One Map Policy only provides a red carpet for investment by certifying and financializing land in order to enter the global land market trap that was initiated at the Global Land Forum (GLF) in Bandung Indonesia in 2018 with the world bank debt trap and land consolidation to financialization. This makes it easier for extractive industries-mining and palm oil to operate more easily with sustainable jargon, development growth and creating jobs.
The Jokowi administration has never wanted to disclose land data that has been decided by the Supreme Court through decision 121 K/TUN/2017 to reveal the name of the land owner, location, land area, map of the area, to the type of commodity. Without data, conflicts will continue to occur and it is difficult for the affected communities to conduct advocacy, including environmental-deforestation advocacy. In addition, there is a decision from the Public Information Commission, No. 057/XII/KIP-PS-M-A/2015 which requires the Jokowi administration to disclose land data, especially in Kalimantan. Information disclosure in Indonesia is required under Indonesian Law No. 14/2008, but Jokowi does not do so for land data. So how can we improve climate and reduce emission, if all factors that destroy it are sustainable.
The challenge in reducing Indonesia's emissions is how to balance land and natural resource conservation with economic development. Indonesia's Master Plan for Economic Expansion and Acceleration-MP3EI maps out Indonesia's development vision up to 2025, which was refined by two periods of Jokowi's administration (2013-18 and 2018-24) through the Nawacita Program. This development relies heavily on land grabs (in forest) for infrastructure, natural resource extraction, including the opening of new coal reserves and expansion of oil palm plantations in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua.
After COP26, Indonesia serves one year as the G20 Group Presidency until the G20 Meeting in Bali in November 2022 in the most popular tourism in the world and always chosen for world meetings and never been a protest there, like in central capital Jakarta or Bandung at GLF protest in 2018. Like the COP, G20 as political failure leaving liberal lobbying exposed as a strategic model. Indonesia a part of G20 to follow up the interests of extractive capitalism with the showcase several structural reforms, such as the omnibus law on job creation meant to simplify regulations on investments, as well as the creation of a sovereign wealth fund which will facilitate local and foreign investment to help finance development programs and foreign investment to help finance development program under neoliberal control.
Capital reorganized its power in a desperate attempt to recover its economic wealth and its influence, which had been seriously eroded although at the expense of ecology degradation through extractive industries. The landgrabs and deforestation that led to the fires that recently raged across the Indonesian is driven by the imperatives of capitalism across the Kalimantan basin followed by domestic and international financing of palm oil, mining, highway infrastructure, which systematically penetrated heavily forested areas for development. The climate catastrophe is an epic war on global neoliberal corporate criminality and state capitalism. We should not kid ourselves. Without radical system change, it’s more likely that dangerous circumstances would be catastrophic. There would be substantial parts of the earth that would be very difficult, even impossible, to survive in.
Globally, Indonesia is widely considered one of the country’s most vulnerable to environmental degradation, climate change and extreme weather events. Decades-long overexploitation of its natural resources since the New Order era, coupled with setback extensive militarization under Jokowi administration and corruption booming have put the country’s ecosystems under tremendous pressure. Jokowi's closeness to the military is evidenced by the military budget which has increased to an extreme 73.8 %, for example in 2020 budget $9.1 billion compared to health budget $3.98 billion and social budget $4.35 billion. The implication is the large expenditure of military equipment and the increasingly massive use of military equipment. Tackling the global climate crisis requires transformational action over the next decade – and beyond. All sectors are under increased scrutiny to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The military who remain high consumers of fossil fuels, not least through operating combat planes and warships, running military bases, procuring resource intensive equipment, and carrying out war training/fighting activities. It is logical that militaries, which are themselves responsible for high proportions of the GHG emissions, should play an important role in achieving the European Green Deal target of net zero by 2050. How will Indonesia mitigate the climate if the military budget continues to increase?
Environmental damage and deteriorating labor situations are considered only residual development and minor investment risks. Extensive and uncontrolled logging and mining have often led to severe soil erosion, biodiversity loss, habitat fragmentation, greenhouse gas emissions, and water pollution. Ecology, climate crisis and climate change are only lip service for Indonesia in international forums such as the COP and G20. The process whereby less poor-developed or periphery countries, like Indonesia are guided into an integrated position within the global (neoliberal) economic system consistently leads both to deforestation and to the chronic ecocide of these countries, which are locked into a tutelary relationship with the “advanced” countries and international financing of the global economy with debt trap imperium countries. By maximizing the production of primary commodities extracted - palm oil and coal mining from tropical forests around the planet especially in Kalimantan, the prices of these non-value-added goods are driven down, fortifying global supply chains despite the environmental and social harm effected.
Winning action requires a relentless confrontation with the present capitalist system, not working in alleged partnership with its defenders. There are NGOs, they’re fundamentally fundraising operations lobby, raise money, get people associated with those organizations to speak at rallies or public speaking or behind supporting government policy, to sponsor things, that’s wonderful, but we shouldn’t expect very much of them.Lips service has placed us in a position where we feed the addiction by living the lie that masks the denials. To save the ecology, environment and human existence, stop lips service politic, slowdown to stop fossil fuel, shut down deforestation for mining and monocrops palm oil expansion, shut down the armed forces and military budget, stop all advertising and still continuing build a movement, mutual solidarity with labor, peasant and indigenous people’s a guard of forest and natural resources in local-global communities networks.
About the author:
Frans Ari Prasetyo is a researcher and planner, living in Bandung-Indonesia. He is an External Research Associate at YCAR York University and visiting fellow University of Toronto. He can be reached at fransariprasetyo@gmail.com.
コメント