The Compliance with International Environmental Law Indonesia

INTRODUCTION
Environmental degradation is a global concern. Pollution in one country
can have negative impacts on another. Therefore, international
cooperation is imperative to dealing with environmental problems. One
way in which the world community addresses environmental problems is
through the development of international environmental conventions.
These conventions are the foundation of international environmental law.
While signing a treaty shows a countrys commitment to the goals of the
convention, it does not always mean that the treaty will be ratified and
made into law or even that it will be enforced. Indonesia, a country that
has signed number of international environmental conventions, will serve
as a case study, to highlight challenges and obstacles countries face in
terms of complying with international environmental law.
Signing an environmental convention is the first step in the process.
Presidents and diplomats may have the power to sign treaties but in most
democratic countries, international treaties must be ratified by
parliament. This concept, known as a two level game in international
policy, can often prevent treaties from being ratified if domestic support
for the goals of the treaty is low. A classic example of this was when Bill
Clinton signed the Kyoto Protocol. Despite the US being a signatory of the
Protocol, its legislative body never ratified the treaty. Indonesia is similar
in this sense in that it has failed to ratify all of the conventions of which it
has become a signatory member. One of the reasons it has failed to ratify
all of the convention is the perceived urgency of that Convention for
Indonesia. If the pertinent Convention is expected to have a big impact on
society, the Government will work to ratify immediately. Conventions
thought to be of lesser importance are often side lined in order to deal
with more pressing domestic policy initiatives causing significant time to
lapse before an international environmental convention will be ratified.
The Stockholm Convention, for example, was signed on May 23, 2001 but
was not ratified by Indonesia until July 9, 2009, when Law No.19 of 2009
regarding the Ratification of Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic
Pollutants, was passed. Delayed ratification or failure to ratify a
convention is the first of many obstacles governments face in complying
with international environmental law.
The ratification process for international agreements in Indonesia is
similar to that of many other democratic countries. Ratification can take
place through the approval of the President or the House of
Representative or Parliament (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat or DPR).[1]
After signing the international agreement(s) or convention(s), the
Government of Indonesia needs to ratify them. The basis of law regarding
ratification of international agreements in Indonesia is Article 11 (1) and
(2) of the Constitution (Undang-undang Dasar 1945 or UUD45) and Law
No.24 of 2000 regarding International Agreement (October 23, 2000)

(Law on International Agreements). Indonesia has classified the

ratification of international agreement(s) into two categories: Laws issued
by the President is in the form of a Presidential Decision (Keputusan
Presiden or KEPPRES) or laws issued by Parliament (Undang-Undang or
UU). The Law on International Agreements further states that
International Agreements can be ratified through either Laws or
Presidential Decisions. However the law specifically states that
Environmental International Agreements require the approval of
Parliament. Before the Law on International Agreements was issued on
2000, those environmental agreements could be ratified in the form of
President Decision or Laws based on the important and less important. For
example: Conventions on the Laws of Sea, some of them are in the form
of Laws, the others are in the form of the President Decisions.
DISCUSSIONS
By ratifying International Environmental Agreements, Indonesia
communicates to the international community that it is committed to
sound environmental management and that it has the similar values and
goals. Furthermore, ratification signals that domestic policy for the
protection of natural resources in Indonesia exists. However the
compliance of international environmental law is often complicated in the
developing world as countries seek to obtain the highest level of economic
development forcing them to compromise on environmental protection
and because responsible government organizations often lack the
resources necessary to effectively implement the convention.
1

1. Increase the Compliance of International Environmental Law

Specialists of international relations insist on the importance of
negotiation for ensuring compliance with treaties. The negotiations have
the best chance to successful when they are based on elements, which
already exist in national law or international conventions like 1972
Stockholm Conference, the 1992 Rio Conference.[2] This is based on the
fact that if the convention is based on existing laws, necessary
infrastructure such as government ministries are already set up allowing
for the monitoring and enforcement of certain laws. If new law or new
government departments need to be established in order to comply with
international treaties, then compliance with the convention will be delayed
and may take many years before it will be effective.
Institutional support at the international level is also critical in terms of
compliance at the domestic level. This support can take the form of a welltrained secretariat and regular conferences of the parties. [3] Convention
on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat
(Ramsar Convention) is an example of how conventions require
continued participation from countries in order to ensure continued
compliance. Ramsar Convention requires the establishment of a
Conference of the Contracting Parties to review and promote the
implementation of this Convention. The Bureau shall convene ordinary
meetings of the Conference of the Contracting Parties at intervals of not

mare than three years, unless the Conference decides otherwise, and
extraordinary meeting at the written request of at least two third of the
Contracting Parties. Each ordinary meeting of the Conference of the
Contracting Parties shall determine the time and venue of the next
ordinary meeting (refer to Article 6 Ramsar Convention).
Each Party must present their report of the implementation of the Ramsar
Convention in the Conference of Parties (CoP). Parties must also protect
wetland areas. As a result, the Indonesian Government designated two
Ramsar Sites: The National Park of Berbak (1992) and National Park of
Sentarum (1994) (refer to Article 4 of the Ramsar Convention).

Article 4 of the Ramsar Convention:

Each Contracting Party has to promote the conversation of the wetlands
and waterfowl by establishing nature reserves on wetlands, whether they
are included in the list or not, and provide adequately for their
wardening.
Pursuant to the 9th Meeting of Conference of the Contracting Parties to
the Ramsar Convention in Kampala, Uganda, the world community
recommended that Indonesia designate the new Ramsar site because of
Indonesias role as the country with the biggest wetlands in the AsiaPacific region.[4]
2. The Obstacles for the Application of Environmental Law
Economic Reasons: Domestic Economic Policy goals can hamper
compliance of international environmental law as competing forces in the
government may be at odds with environmental protection. Powerful
economic lobbies in a country may also obtain special dispensations as a
way of attracting economic development to depressed areas. In Indonesia,
palm-oil is a major industry. Last year, large scale producers pumped out
18.4 million tons in 2008, with exports of 14 millions tons.[5] Several local
regions in Indonesia have actively sought to attract foreign investment to
further develop palm-oil industries. The palm-oil plantations are
established on peat forestland which is a biological diverse type of
wetlands. This policy initiative goes directly against the goals of Ramsar.
While other countries, the EU in particular, seek to curb the creation of
more palm oil plantations on important wetland forests by setting strict
standards for palm oil cultivation by prohibiting the development of
plantations on forestlands. This requirement will be hard to meet for
Indonesian producers as the bulk of the countrys oil palm plantation
stand of cleared forestland.[6] While Environmental Ministry officials say
that new plantations will not be established on cleared forests, economic
ministry officials and regional politicians often express different opinions
on the matter. On the other side, Indonesia has taken a strong stance
against bomb fishing as it was destroying important coral reefs. These
reefs, seen as an import driver of tourism revenue, have become
protected through public private partnerships such as the coral triangle
initiative. In this sense, the government is following the international
convention because it is in line with economic development.

Implementing certain conventions can also have negative impacts on the

economy. The farming industry in Indonesia, like all countries, relies
heavily on pesticides. Before the Government ratified the Stockholm
Convention, the Government only prohibited the use of aldrin, DDT,
endrin, heptachlor, mirex, toxaphene, hezachlor benzene as well as PBC
pursuant to the Government Regulation No.74 of 2001. It wasnt until July
9, 2009 that the Government ratified this Convention and prohibited all
dangerous production of the 12 listed Persistent Organic Pollutants
(POPs). It took eight years for all of the POPs to be banned since a
viable alternative to some of the POPs were not available at a commercial
level which would allow small scale farmers to earn a living.
It is clear that economic considerations play a large role in not only
determining which environmental conventions get ratified but also impact
the manner in which they are enforced at the domestic level.
Insufficient
knowledge
of
domestic
capabilities
for
implementation of the International Environment Agreements:
The Government sometimes does not understand international
environmental rules sufficiently making implementation difficult. Capacity
building can help resolving this problem.[7] For example, the Government
still has not managed the Ramsar sites effectively based on the Ramsar
Guidelines. The CoP of Ramsar Convention suggested Indonesia needs to
review the management of Ramsar Sites. In order to build capacity of
domestic organizations, the Government needs to work together with
international environmental organizations. To give an example, the
Indonesian Ministry of Forestry works together with Wetlands International
on various projects such as surveying potential conservation sites,
wetlands rehabilitation, public awareness and policy institutional
strengthening.[8] Capacity building takes time but it is crucial in terms of
ensuring long term compliance with international environmental law.
CONCLUSIONS
International environmental law often represents an idealistic scenario
which countries operate in a sustainable manner. Developed countries
often dominate the decision making process and ask developing countries
to make sacrifices in terms of economic development. Often heads of
states or diplomatic envoys sign international environmental conventions
as a way of showing that they are committed to international collective
decision making on environmental protection. However it is clear that
these countries often lack domestic support for these conventions. This is
clear based on the fact that it takes many years for treaties to be ratified
while some are never made into law. Ratification doesnt ensure
compliance. Economic forces in a country often take a higher role with
environmental protection relegated to an after thought. Even willing
countries in the developing with domestic support for a convention often
lack the resources and effective ministries to implement the policy.
By Mary Osmond [http://maryosmond.com]

[1] Section 3 Law No.24 of 2000 regarding the International Agreement

(October 23, 2000), http://www.bpkp.go.id
[2] Alexandre KISS, Introduction to International Environmental Law, 2nd
edition, UNITAR, Geneva 2005, p.57
[3] Alexandre KISS, Introduction to International Environmental Law, 2nd
edition, UNITAR, Geneva 2005, p.58.
[4] The Report of 9th Meeting of Conference of the Contracting Parties to
the
Ramsar
Convention
on
Wetlands
in
Kampala,
Uganda
http://www.dephut.go.id/INFORMASI/PHPA/PHKA/Ramsar.htm
[5] Dian ARIFFAHMI, Palm Oil Producers Want Indonesias Support on
Tough
EU
Biofuel
Regulation,
September
13,
2009,
http://thejakartaglobe.com/business/palm-oil-producers-want-indonesiassupport-on-tough-eu-biofuel-regulation/329698
[6] Ibid.
[7] Alender Kiss pg 57
[8] http://www.wetlands.or.id/profile.php