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FORMOSA NEWS - Palembang - Legal Frameworks Must Strengthen Environmental Rights to Ensure Sustainable Development and Ecological Justice. A 2026 legal study conducted by Dr. Vagitya Ramadhani Putri from Universitas Sriwijaya and Dr. Iwan Kurniawan from Universitas Jayabaya reveals that formal recognition of environmental rights remains insufficient unless accompanied by enforceable state duties, procedural protections, and strict corporate accountability. Published in the International Journal of Law Analytics, the research examines how constitutional mandates and statutory frameworks interact with international legal standards to safeguard ecosystems within sustainable development models. The findings emphasize that environmental protection cannot be treated as a secondary policy objective, but must serve as a legal boundary for economic activity.
Background and Relevance
Modern economic growth, industrial expansion, and infrastructure development frequently place severe stress on natural ecosystems, leading to pollution, climate risks, and community displacement. These environmental burdens fall disproportionately on vulnerable populations, including low-income communities, indigenous groups, farmers, and fishermen who rely directly on natural resources. In Indonesia, the right to a healthy environment carries explicit constitutional standing under Article 28H paragraph (1) and Article 33 paragraph (4) of the 1945 Constitution, further supported by Law Number 32 of 2009 concerning Environmental Protection and Management. Global benchmarks, including United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/76/300, have similarly elevated environmental quality to an international human right. However, significant regulatory gaps persist between high-level constitutional guarantees and actual enforcement against corporate and industrial violations. Addressing these gaps is vital to ensuring that short-term economic gains do not compromise long-term ecological survival.
Research Methodology
The researchers conducted a normative legal study using literature review and library research methods. They analyzed primary legal materials, including the 1945 Constitution of Indonesia, national environmental statutes, and international legal resolutions. Secondary legal materials, such as peer-reviewed journal articles, legal treatises, and books on environmental constitutionalism, were systematically reviewed alongside tertiary legal reference materials. The authors applied statutory, conceptual, and historical-normative analytical approaches to evaluate the legal coherence of environmental rights. Through qualitative content analysis and legal interpretation, the study evaluated statutory consistency across administrative, civil, criminal, and human rights law frameworks.
Key Research Findings
The study identifies a dual-dimension structure governing environmental rights and outlines concrete principles required for legal effectiveness:
The findings provide actionable guidance for policymakers, legal practitioners, judicial bodies, and corporate leaders. Strengthening environmental regulation requires harmonizing scattered laws so that environmental impact assessments and public consultations occur before project permits are granted. For society and local communities, enforcing procedural rights ensures early access to official project data and legal remedies when pollution occurs. The research also highlights the urgent necessity of legal protections for environmental defenders and activists facing harassment or criminalization. For industry, clear strict-liability rules and polluter-pays obligations incentivize sustainable operations and discourage the practice of transferring ecological restoration costs onto public authorities.
Author Profiles
Dr. Vegitya Ramadhani Putri holds a Doctorate in Law (S.H., M.H.) and serves as a lecturer and legal scholar at the Faculty of Law, Universitas Sriwijaya, specializing in environmental law, constitutional law, and human rights guarantees.
Dr. Iwan Kurniawan holds a Master of Laws degree (S.H., M.H.) and is an academic researcher at the Faculty of Law, Universitas Jayabaya, specializing in administrative law, environmental regulation, and legal analytics.
Source
Vagitya Ramadhani Putri, Iwan Kurniawan. Normative Study on the Regulation of the Right to a Good and Healthy Environment in the Context of Sustainable Development. International Journal of Law Analytics (IJLA). Vol. 4, No. 3 (2026), Halaman 409-424
DOI :https://doi.org/10.59890/ijla.v4i3.255
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Background and Relevance
Modern economic growth, industrial expansion, and infrastructure development frequently place severe stress on natural ecosystems, leading to pollution, climate risks, and community displacement. These environmental burdens fall disproportionately on vulnerable populations, including low-income communities, indigenous groups, farmers, and fishermen who rely directly on natural resources. In Indonesia, the right to a healthy environment carries explicit constitutional standing under Article 28H paragraph (1) and Article 33 paragraph (4) of the 1945 Constitution, further supported by Law Number 32 of 2009 concerning Environmental Protection and Management. Global benchmarks, including United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/76/300, have similarly elevated environmental quality to an international human right. However, significant regulatory gaps persist between high-level constitutional guarantees and actual enforcement against corporate and industrial violations. Addressing these gaps is vital to ensuring that short-term economic gains do not compromise long-term ecological survival.
Research Methodology
The researchers conducted a normative legal study using literature review and library research methods. They analyzed primary legal materials, including the 1945 Constitution of Indonesia, national environmental statutes, and international legal resolutions. Secondary legal materials, such as peer-reviewed journal articles, legal treatises, and books on environmental constitutionalism, were systematically reviewed alongside tertiary legal reference materials. The authors applied statutory, conceptual, and historical-normative analytical approaches to evaluate the legal coherence of environmental rights. Through qualitative content analysis and legal interpretation, the study evaluated statutory consistency across administrative, civil, criminal, and human rights law frameworks.
Key Research Findings
The study identifies a dual-dimension structure governing environmental rights and outlines concrete principles required for legal effectiveness:
- Substantive and Procedural Dual Structure: The right to a good and healthy environment consists of a substantive dimension (the right of citizens to enjoy a clean, safe, and sustainable environment) and a procedural dimension (the right to information, public participation in decision-making, and access to environmental justice).
- Intergenerational Equity: Sustainable development principles mandate that current resource exploitation must not compromise the environmental capacity available to future generations.
- Operational Legal Principles: Core principles—including prevention of harm, precautionary measures during scientific uncertainty, polluter-pays accountability, and public participation—are essential to keep economic growth within ecological carrying capacities.
- Enforcement Challenges: Declarative constitutional rights fail when state mechanisms lack strict licensing supervision, corporate liability enforcement, and accessible dispute mechanisms for affected citizens.
The findings provide actionable guidance for policymakers, legal practitioners, judicial bodies, and corporate leaders. Strengthening environmental regulation requires harmonizing scattered laws so that environmental impact assessments and public consultations occur before project permits are granted. For society and local communities, enforcing procedural rights ensures early access to official project data and legal remedies when pollution occurs. The research also highlights the urgent necessity of legal protections for environmental defenders and activists facing harassment or criminalization. For industry, clear strict-liability rules and polluter-pays obligations incentivize sustainable operations and discourage the practice of transferring ecological restoration costs onto public authorities.
Author Profiles
Dr. Vegitya Ramadhani Putri holds a Doctorate in Law (S.H., M.H.) and serves as a lecturer and legal scholar at the Faculty of Law, Universitas Sriwijaya, specializing in environmental law, constitutional law, and human rights guarantees.
Dr. Iwan Kurniawan holds a Master of Laws degree (S.H., M.H.) and is an academic researcher at the Faculty of Law, Universitas Jayabaya, specializing in administrative law, environmental regulation, and legal analytics.
Source
Vagitya Ramadhani Putri, Iwan Kurniawan. Normative Study on the Regulation of the Right to a Good and Healthy Environment in the Context of Sustainable Development. International Journal of Law Analytics (IJLA). Vol. 4, No. 3 (2026), Halaman 409-424
DOI :
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