Indonesian children say climate change puts them at risk of exploitation

Saphia Fleury worked for the NGO Amnesty International for 15 years before joining the University of Hull to conduct research into climate migration. She has a keen interest in human rights law, refugee issues and environmental change. Saphia is also an Expert Reviewer for the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Indonesia’s National Human Rights Commission is currently considering a case brought by a group of adults and children, the youngest of whom was seven years old when the case was filed. The plaintiffs claim that Indonesia’s failure to tackle climate change is putting their human rights at risk, including numerous provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The adults bringing the case state that their agrarian livelihoods leave them vulnerable to climate change, and that this vulnerability is exacerbated by Indonesia’s inaction on climate mitigation and adaptation.

Among those rights cited by the plaintiffs as being threatened by the climate crisis is Article 32 of the CRC – children’s right to freedom from economic exploitation and harmful work. The complaint argues that:

Thus, the complaint argues, fulfilment of the rights of the children bringing the case is dependent on “government action to address climate change” (para. 244). By failing to mitigate climate change by lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and by failing to adapt to climate impacts such as extreme weather, it claims that the government violates the rights of Indonesian children.

The case, known as Indonesian Youths and others v. Indonesia, is just one example of a growing body of strategic litigation on climate change. Such cases aim to put pressure on governments, corporations and, less commonly, private individuals to take climate action. They frequently depend on international human rights law, alongside national constitutions and other bodies of law, to make their arguments. A significant number of these cases involve child plaintiffs and/or invoke inter-generational rights. The Youth Climate Justice project at University College Cork in Ireland tracks and maintains a database of cases brought by children.

The Indonesian case is bolstered by the child plaintiffs describing their direct lived experiences of, and anxieties around, climate change. They describe the “extreme heat” they have experienced in their hometowns, how they have witnessed a “sharp increase” in climate-related extreme weather, and describe their fears of “surviving an unsafe climate” (para. 3).

Indonesia is a major emitter of greenhouse gases – ranking 6th in the world in 2023 (the UK was 22nd). Its energy mix is heavily dependent on fossil fuels and the country is plagued by illegal logging and land clearance, which drive deforestation. Indonesia’s planned transition to renewable energy is criticised as not being aligned with the Paris Agreement’s target of capping global heating at 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. A draft bill finalised in September 2024 allows for further development of fossil fuels so long as it is accompanied by carbon capture and storage; an unproven and controversial technology. Moreover, Amnesty International’s most recent summary of human rights in Indonesia raises concerns that its “green” transition will be unjust, relying on land-grabbing for energy projects – a process that violates the rights of local communities. The organization has long reported on the lack of free, prior and informed consent for projects on Indigenous land and attacks on human rights defenders in the country.

The plaintiffs in Indonesian Youths and others v. Indonesia hope that the National Human Rights Commission will compel the government to, among other things, place a moratorium on coal-fired power stations, ensure protection for people in climate-vulnerable areas and rehabilitate mangrove and coral ecosystems. Such measures would be win-win, having numerous benefits both for the natural environment and for human rights realisation, including by improving children’s enjoyment of the rights to physical and mental health, access to education, food, adequate housing, safe drinking water and sanitation; all of which reduce the risk of children being pushed into exploitative and harmful labour.