The Omnibus Law in Indonesia: Assessing Its Consequences on Environmental Sustainability and Land Rights

Abstract

The Omnibus law, enacted in 2020 in Indonesia, was implemented with the aim of fostering employment opportunities within the nation. The proposed legislative reform is a comprehensive measure aimed primarily at incentivizing foreign investments in order to bolster the country's economic growth and foster the creation of additional employment opportunities. However, this legislation also has an impact on the environmental safeguards and land entitlements of indigenous populations. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the implications of the Omnibus Law on environmental sustainability and land rights within the Indonesian context. In order to achieve this objective, a normative legal methodology was employed, incorporating a range of primary and secondary sources to collect the necessary data. The study aimed to address its proposed objective through the implementation of qualitative content analysis. The findings derived from this study indicate that the Omnibus law has effectively reduced regulatory burdens on businesses while simultaneously overlooking the potential environmental consequences. The potential repercussions of this could have adverse effects on the previous strides made by Indonesia in the realm of promoting environmental sustainability. Additionally, this legislation hinders the integration of public participation, resulting in suboptimal environmental and social outcomes. Furthermore, the primary objective of this legislation has been to facilitate the attraction of international investments through the provision of land ownership privileges to foreign individuals or entities. This has the potential to have a negligible impact on the land rights of local and indigenous communities. Hence, the enactment of the Omnibus law has the potential to pose a significant risk to both the environmental and land rights domains. This study offers various recommendations aimed at enhancing environmental sustainability and safeguarding land rights within the framework of the Omnibus law