Environmental disputes between neighboring states, particularly Indonesia and Malaysia, pose complex challenges to cross-border governance. Although comparative legal scholarship has examined their respective legal systems, research integrating customary dispute resolution into transboundary environmental governance remains limited. This article compares environmental dispute resolution under Indonesia's civil law system and Malaysia's common law system, focusing on the role of customary law (*adat law*) alongside formal legal mechanisms. Using a normative juridical methodology and comparative legal analysis, the study examines statutory frameworks, alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, including mediation, negotiation, and arbitration, and customary governance practices. The findings indicate that customary institutions can support environmental dispute resolution through restorative justice and community-based resource management. However, their integration into formal systems remains constrained by regulatory fragmentation, jurisdictional uncertainty, and limited bilateral coordination. The study proposes three measures: establishing an Indonesia–Malaysia Joint Bilateral Environmental Panel, incorporating customary mediation into national dispute resolution frameworks, and involving indigenous border communities in transboundary conservation through Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM).
China's continued expansion of coal projects has intensified tensions between national development priorities and international climate commitments. Although China has pledged to mitigate climate change under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, the persistence of coal-based development raises important questions regarding the implementation of these commitments through domestic governance. This study examines China's coal policy from the perspective of state responsibility under international environmental law, focusing on the principles of no-harm, due diligence, precaution, and the normative framework of the Paris Agreement. Using a normative legal research approach, the study analyzes the relationship between international legal obligations and domestic policy implementation. The findings show that the principal challenge lies not in the absence of international legal standards but in the governance gap between central climate commitments and provincial implementation of coal policies, resulting in inconsistent enforcement of environmental obligations.
Coal transportation in Jambi Province created traffic congestion, road deterioration, traffic accidents, environmental degradation, and conflicts between economic interests and public welfare. This study examined stakeholder engagement in responding to these challenges and assessed how stakeholders addressed the impacts of coal transportation. A qualitative case study approach was employed using secondary data from 39 online news articles published by 14 national and local media outlets throughout 2023, complemented by reports from environmental organizations. Data were analyzed using QDA NVivo R1 through coding, classification, and stakeholder relationship mapping. The findings identified five major stakeholder groups: central government, local government, law enforcement agencies, civil society, and business actors. Stakeholder responses remained fragmented and predominantly reactive, with greater attention to traffic congestion, road damage, traffic accidents, and dedicated coal transportation roads, while environmental degradation, pollution, and community welfare receive comparatively limited attention. This study contributed to the stakeholder governance literature by demonstrating that stakeholder engagement was not determined solely by the presence or visibility of actors, but also by the balance, coordination, and integration of their responses across governance issues. Strengthening inter-stakeholder collaboration and integrated governance was essential to balance economic development, environmental sustainability, and public interests.
Sustainable natural resource management has yet to adequately recognize and integrate indigenous women’s traditional knowledge. This article examines its legal status, the challenges to its recognition, and the legal reforms needed to strengthen it from a participatory environmental justice perspective. Using normative legal research with statutory, conceptual, and participatory environmental justice approaches, the study finds that indigenous women’s traditional knowledge is vital to sustainable natural resource management but remains constrained by limited legal recognition, structural and patriarchal biases, and inadequate integration into governance frameworks. The study recommends strengthening legal recognition, reconstructing gender-inclusive laws, and integrating indigenous women’s traditional knowledge into sustainable natural resource management frameworks to advance participatory environmental justice.
This article examines legal certainty in Indonesian and Malaysian mining regulation through four variables: licensing authority, environmental assessment and permit sequencing, cross-sectoral coordination, and supervision and enforcement. In Indonesia, successive changes to the allocation of licensing authority, particularly under Law No. 3 of 2020, Presidential Regulation No. 55 of 2022, and Law No. 2 of 2025, indicate limited regulatory stability. Although centralisation aims to strengthen state control over mineral resources, changing institutional arrangements and coordination mechanisms may reduce predictability and local accountability. Malaysia's federal framework provides constitutionally defined state authority over mining, while federal institutions support technical and environmental coordination. Its regulatory framework also establishes a clearer sequence between environmental assessment and licensing. The comparison indicates that legal certainty depends not only on statutory provisions but also on regulatory stability, institutional coordination, procedural consistency, and enforceability. Indonesia therefore needs clearer allocation of licensing authority, stronger integration of environmental assessment into licensing procedures, and more consistent enforcement and cross-sectoral coordination to support sustainable mining governance.
