Ibas Emphasises Six Key Elements in Climate Change Bill
The Deputy Speaker of the MPR RI and Chairman of the Democratic Party Faction of the DPR RI, Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono, has encouraged that the Climate Change Bill does not merely stop at being a normative regulation, but truly becomes a state instrument to protect the people, preserve the environment, and ensure that economic growth continues to progress.
This message was delivered by Ibas, as he is affectionately known, during the Democratic Party Faction’s National Seminar titled “Environmental Management and Climate Change Bill: Resilient Indonesia, Prosperous People — Towards Just, Sustainable, and Impactful Climate Policy” in Jakarta on Monday (31/8/2026).
The forum brought together members of parliament, the government, academics, researchers, civil society organisations, the business community, and the younger generation to discuss the direction of Indonesia’s climate change policy.
A number of experts and stakeholders were in attendance, including BRIN Senior Lead Researcher Prof. Eddy Hermawan, Executive Director of Sustain Tata Mustasya, and Fabby Tumiwa from the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR), alongside representatives from BMKG, WALHI, Greenpeace, research institutions, and youth organisations.
According to Ibas, climate change is no longer an issue discussed only in international forums or academic spaces. Its impacts are being felt directly by the community in daily life, ranging from changes in weather patterns to threats to food security, livelihoods, the environment, and community life in various regions.
“When food prices are affected by extreme weather, that is a climate issue. When fishermen find it difficult to predict the weather, that is a climate issue. When floods, droughts, fires, or heatwaves increasingly disrupt lives, that is also a climate issue,” he said.
He emphasised that because the impacts of climate change touch the lives of the people, climate policy is essentially part of the state’s constitutional duty.
“When we talk about climate change, we are actually talking about the state’s constitutional duty to protect and prosper the people,” Edhie Baskoro asserted.
The Deputy Speaker of the MPR assessed that it is inappropriate to frame environmental protection as something that must be pitted against economic growth. He referred to Article 33, paragraph (4) of the 1945 Constitution, which mandates that the national economy be organised based on principles of economic democracy, including equitable efficiency, sustainability, environmental awareness, independence, and maintaining the balance of national economic progress and unity.
“The environment and prosperity are not two separate choices. Our Constitution has provided the way: the economy must grow, growth must be equitable, development must be sustainable, and the environment must be protected,” he said.