decision

Ministry of Environment and Forestry v. PT Merbau Pelelawan Lestari - decision

<p>This entry was provided by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. Please see the terms of use for citation and licensing of third party data.</p>

Litigation

Sabin

Sabin Litigation

Filing Year For Action

In September 2013, the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF) filed a tort-based lawsuit against a corporation, PT Merbau Pelelawan Lestari, for the release of GHGs emissions. The plaintiffs argued that the defendant's illegal logging had impaired the forest’s carbon sink capacity. The plaintiff sought compensation for the cost of restoring the damaged forest, specifically its carbon sequestration function. The damage amounted to IDR 240 billion (approximately US$17.2 million) for the total affected area of 7,463 hectares. The defendant argued that it had not carried out any illegal logging and stated that the plaintiff should have given the company administrative sanctions for illegal logging prior to initiating the lawsuit.

On March 3, 2014, the district court of Pekanbaru ruled in favor of the defendant on the ground that the defendant was not proven to have logged forest outside the permit area. Furthermore, the court is of the opinion that the defendant's activities are in accordance with the Environmental Impact Analysis and there is no environmental damage happened in the area. On November 28, 2014, the Court of Appeal upheld the decision. 

On August 18, 2016, the Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeal’s decision. The supreme court believed that the area managed by the defendant overextended the permit's area. The Supreme Court referred to expert testimony stating that illegal logging happened in the extended area, one of which is in protected areas. The Supreme Court then awarded the plaintiff the restoration costs for climate damage in the full amount requested by the plaintiff.


Ministry of Environment and Forestry v. PT Merbau Pelelawan Lestari

The Climate Litigation Database

Find climate change litigation data and indicators for {text}.

{text} litigation

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law provides Climate Litigation Database, a comprehensive database of US and Global climate change caselaw

Quickly and easily search through the complete text of thousands of climate change law and policy documents from every country.

Search the Climate Litigation Database

An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

Terrestrial means "of the earth" and relates to the risks to ecological system that includes all living organisms and their interactions within land-based environments, such as forests, grasslands, and deserts.

Tradable permits are market-based tools that grant permission for specific activities, frequently used to regulate emissions. These permits can be issued within a trading system to manage environmental impacts.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Actions or measures to adapt terrestrial systems to climate change.

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

A ban is a legal action that prevents the sale or supply of a product or service, or that recalls a product from the market. Examples are bans on SF6, greenwashing, fossil fuel advertisement or single-use plastics.

This sector includes firms and individuals offering specialised expertise in fields such as law, accounting, consulting, science and engineering.

Energy derived from biological compounds that are renewable due to their short life cycle within the carbon dioxide cycle.

This sector involves the distribution, treatment, and conservation of water resources.

The activities of industries that transforms raw materials into finished goods through industrial processes.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater, coastal and marine systems to climate change.

This sector creates and distributes information and entertainment through television, radio, print, and digital platforms.

Zoning and spatial planning are both methods for guiding the distribution of people and activities in a space, and are regulatory restriction.

Activities that relate to the production of goods and services from forests.

People whose health, both mental and physical, makes them more vulnerable to the effects of climate change

Codes and standards are regulatory instruments that specify minimum standards to protect health and safety. This ranges from performance standards, which prescribe outcomes while allowing flexibility to achieve compliance, to the more prescriptive approach of technology-specific standards.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater systems to climate change.

Activities of government agencies and institutions that provide public services, enforce laws and manage public resources.

This sector involves managing waste treatment, sanitation, pollution control and environmental cleanup.

This sector involves activities that impart knowledge and skills to individuals, including formal schooling, vocational training and educational support.

Geohazards are adverse geological phenomenon's that are capable of causing widespread damage or loss to property, life and the environment, such as earthquakes, volcano eruptions and tsunamis. Climate change can increase the frequency and severity of some geohazards, such as landslides, and soil erosion.

Ministry of Environment and Forestry v. PT Merbau Pelelawan Lestari - decision

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Renewable energy

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance