Community action/Indonesia

Due to its geographical and natural diversity, Indonesia is one of the countries most susceptible to the impacts of climate change. This is supported by the fact that Jakarta has been listed as the world's most vulnerable city, regarding climate change. It is also a major contributor as of the countries that has contributed most to greenhouse gas emissions due to its high rate of deforestation and reliance on coal power.

Made up of more than 17,000 islands and with a long coastline, Indonesia stands particularly vulnerable to the effects of rising sea levels and extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, and storms. Its vast areas of tropical forests are vital in balancing out climate change by taking in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Projected impacts on Indonesia's agricultural sector, national economy and health are also significant issues.

Indonesia has committed to reducing its emissions within the framework of the Copenhagen Accord and Paris Agreement. Despite the significant impacts of climate change on the country, surveys show that Indonesia has a high proportion of climate change deniers.

Environmental issues in Indonesia are associated with the country's high population density and rapid industrialisation, and they are often given a lower priority due to high poverty levels, and an under-resourced governance.

Most large palm oil plantations in Indonesia owned by Singaporean rich conglomerates who employ thousands of local native Indonesians.

Issues include large-scale deforestation (much of it illegal) and related wildfires causing heavy smog over parts of western Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore; over-exploitation of marine resources; and environmental problems associated with rapid urbanisation and economic development, including air pollution, traffic congestion, garbage management, and reliable water and waste water services.

Deforestation and the destruction of peatlands make Indonesia the world's third largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Habitat destruction threatens the survival of indigenous and endemic species, including 140 species of mammals identified by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) as threatened, and 15 identified as critically endangered, including the Sumatran orangutan.

Efforts to curb global climate change have included measures designed to monitor the progression of deforestation in Indonesia and incentivise national and local governments to halt it. The general term for these sorts of programs is Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD). New systems to monitor deforestation are being applied to Indonesia. One such system, the Center for Global Development's Forest Monitoring for Action platform currently displays monthly-updated data on deforestation throughout Indonesia.

Deforestation in Indonesia involves the long-term loss of forests and foliage across much of the country; it has had massive environmental and social impacts. Indonesia is home to some of the most biologically diverse forests in the world and ranks third in number of species behind Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

As late as 1900, Indonesia was still a densely forested country: forests represented 84 percent of the total land area. Deforestation intensified in the 1970s and has accelerated further since then. The estimated forest cover of 170 million hectares around 1900 decreased to less than 100 million hectares by the end of the 20th century. In 2008, it was estimated that tropical rainforests in Indonesia would be logged out in a decade. Of the total logging in Indonesia, up to 80% is reported to be performed illegally.

Large areas of forest in Indonesia have been cleared by large multinational pulp companies, such as Asia Pulp and Paper, and replaced by plantations. Forests are often burned by farmers and plantation owners. Another major source of deforestation is the logging industry, driven by demand from China and Japan. Agricultural development and transmigration programs moved large populations into rainforest areas, further increasing deforestation rates. The widespread deforestation (and other environmental destruction) in Indonesia is often described by academics as an ecocide.

Logging and the burning of forests to clear land for cultivation have historically made Indonesia one of the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases, behind China and the United States. Forest fires often destroy major carbon sinks, including old-growth rainforest and peat swamp forests. In May 2011, Indonesia declared a moratorium on new logging contracts to help address deforestation. The policy initially had limited impact, and by 2012 Indonesia had surpassed Brazil’s deforestation rate, becoming the world’s fastest forest-clearing nation.

In recent years, however, deforestation rates have declined. According to 2025 data from the University of Maryland’s Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) Lab, Indonesia reduced primary forest loss by 11% from 2023 to 2024, reversing a steady increase seen between 2021 and 2023. Fires remained relatively mild, and total loss stayed well below the peaks recorded in the mid-2010s. The final year of President Joko Widodo’s administration saw continued emphasis on forest protection, restoration, and fire prevention, supported by government programs, local community initiatives, and private-sector efforts to reduce deforestation linked to commodities such as palm oil and timber. Most primary forest loss occurred near existing plantations, small-scale farms, and mining areas; with localized increases reported in several provinces, including Aceh, Bengkulu, and South Sumatra on Sumatra, as well as in Papua. Losses were also observed within protected areas such as Kerinci Seblat, Tesso Nilo, and the Leuser ecosystem.

In 2025, forest loss in Indonesia surged by 66%, reaching its highest rate in eight years.

Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian and Pacific oceans. Comprising over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guinea, Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic state and the 14th-largest country by area, at 1,904,569 square kilometres (735,358 square miles). Indonesia has significant areas of wilderness that support one of the world's highest levels of biodiversity. It shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and Malaysia, as well as maritime borders with seven other countries, including Australia, Singapore, and the Philippines.

The Indonesian archipelago has been inhabited since prehistoric times, with early human presence evidenced by fossils of Homo erectus and Homo sapiens, and megalithic sites. By the early second millennium, it had become a crossroads for international trade linking East and South Asia. Over the centuries, external influences—including Hinduism, Buddhism and later Islam—were absorbed into local societies, which introduced lasting cultural and religious influences. European powers later competed to monopolise trade in the Spice Islands of Maluku during the Age of Discovery, followed by three and a half centuries of Dutch colonial rule, before Indonesia proclaimed its independence in the aftermath of World War II.

Since independence, Indonesia has experienced separatist conflicts, corruption, political upheaval and natural disasters, alongside democratisation and rapid economic growth. The country today is a presidential republic with an elected legislature and consists of 38 provinces, some of which enjoy greater autonomy than others. Home to over 280 million people, Indonesia ranks fourth in the world by population and has the largest Muslim population of any country. More than half of Indonesians live on Java, the most heavily populated island in the world, while the capital Jakarta is the world's most populous city.