More than two years after Indonesian citizens filed a lawsuit to improve their air quality, the Central Jakarta District Court has found President Joko Widodo and members of his government guilty of negligence for not doing enough to counter air pollution in and around the city.^1,2

The capital of Indonesia, Jakarta and its surrounding communities of Bekasi, Bogor, Depok, South Tangerang, and Tangerang share a population of over 30 million people. Air pollution levels in the region routinely exceed the World Health Organization’s recommended PM2.5 annual mean of 10 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m³).

Bondan Andriyanu, an Indonesian climate and energy campaigner with Greenpeace Southeast Asia, expressed his appreciation for the judges’ decision in the lawsuit. "It proves that the defendants, from the president to the governor of Jakarta, committed an unlawful act."

The long-delayed verdict was expected May 20, 2021 but was postponed eight times until the court reached a verdict on September 16.

Facts of the case

In July 2019, 32 litigants and their advocacy team comprising the Clean Air Initiative Coalition sued the Indonesian government to hold leaders accountable for the city’s poor air quality. Jakarta frequently reaches levels of air quality that measure in the “hazardous” range on the air quality index. Hazardous AQI levels are over 301, or concentrations of PM2.5 greater than 250.5 μg/m³.

Indonesia was the 9^thmost polluted country in 2020 with a mean annual PM2.5 concentration of 40.7 μg/m³. South Tangerang ranked 25^th among the most polluted cities in the world.

Apart from President Widodo, the suit also named the three Ministers of the Environment and Forestry, Health, and Home Affairs, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, Banten Governor Wahidin Halim, and West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil.

The court attributed the delays to the judges and clerks contracting COVID-19 and to the large number of documents requiring review. The plaintiff’s legal counsel filed a letter with Indonesia’s Judicial Commission and the Supervisory Body of the Supreme Court, alleging that the delays were a potential violation of the judicial code of ethics.³

Pollutant health implications

Jakarta’s primary air pollutants are PM2.5 and ultrafine particles. The deadliest of airborne pollutants, ultrafine particles are PM measured at less than .1 micron in diameter. Ultrafine particles are so tiny that they can enter the bloodstream after being inhaled and harm all bodily organs.

A 2020 review article in Experimental & Molecular Medicine noted a number of health hazards from exposure to ultrafine particles, including:⁴

• induced cough
• worsened asthma
• pulmonary and systemic inflammation
• cardiac disease
• hypertension
• metal fume fever
• Diabetes
• cancer
• low birthweight

A plaintiff in the case, Khalisah Khalid, filed suit because her young son’s health had been impacted by the city’s pollution, resulting in frequent nosebleeds and allergies.⁵

Air pollution sources

Jakarta’s biggest sources of pollution are a result of rapid urban growth, including vehicle traffic, industrial emissions, and coal-fired power plants. These emissions cause 5.5 million illnesses annually, according to Governor Anies Baswedan.⁶

According to the 2020 world air quality report, lockdowns implemented to slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus reduced air pollution from industrial and traffic sources globally in 2020. Jakarta closed offices, schools, and places of worship from April 10 through June 5, 2020. These restrictions reduced PM2.5 output by 12.8 percent in April and 31.7 percent in May as compared to 2019.

Even with the reduction in traffic pollution, Jakarta’s air quality was still poor due to the city’s heavy dependence on nearby coal-fired power plants.

Like many countries in Southeast Asia, Indonesian farmers typically burn waste materials on croplands as a cheap method of clearing the land for future plantings.

Additionally, as rainforests are destroyed to make room for more agricultural use including palm oil, wet peat land becomes drier and more susceptible to fires. Peat fires are hard to put out and emit some of the worst pollutants.⁷

Smoke from crop fires and wildfires can contribute to poor air quality for many miles from their source.

Next steps

Indonesia’s government has a stated goal of moving from non-renewable, polluting sources of energy towards renewable energy and carbon neutrality by 2060.⁸ The country plans to derive 23 percent of its energy from renewable resources by 2025. To make this happen, the country’s state utility, Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), will gradually retire its coal-fired power plants, shuttering the first three by 2030.

Pollution is so bad in Jakarta that it is one of several contributing factors in President Widodo’s push to relocate the government to an as-yet unbuilt city in Kalimantan on the eastern coastline of the island of Borneo.⁹ The relocation is estimated to result in moving 1.5 million civil servants out of Jakarta.

But it is unclear what specific steps the government will take in response to the court verdict. The president’s spokesperson, Fadjroel Rhaman, said that further action would be the responsibility of the environment minister, though he didn’t state what that action might be.¹⁰ The Jakarta governor’s office indicated that they were reviewing the decision.

The court has instructed the government to improve the national air quality standard and found that provincial governments must conduct emission checks on vehicles in Jakarta and conduct outdoor air quality tests. The court stipulated that this gathered air quality information must be made available to the public.

Andriyanu noted that the lawsuit didn’t request compensation – only that “the defendants carry out their duties and obligations to protect their citizens from the dangers of air pollution.”

"This is a victory that we need to celebrate together. We are one step ahead in providing clean air for our children and grandchildren in the future."

The takeaway

While hazardous air quality is a major health concern, poor air quality doesn’t have to be hazardous to be a health threat. No amount of air pollution is safe for human beings.

It’s essential that leaders everywhere take bolder steps to ensure everyone has access to clean, healthy air. As the people of Jakarta demonstrated, citizen activists can make a difference by holding leaders to account when necessary.

Officials can improve public health by taking several steps to immediately help improve air quality, both in Jakarta and throughout Indonesia.

• incentivize reduced vehicle use and the purchase of energy-efficient vehicles
• incentivize alternatives to crop burning, while maintaining pressure on enforcement
• fast track development of carbon-neutral energy sources
• monitor air quality in the most at-risk and impacted neighborhoods and take steps to reduce nearby emission sources