WCC NEWS: Side event explores “Human Rights in Indonesia – The Right to a Clean, Healthy, and Sustainable Environment”

During the 61st session of the UN Human Rights Council, in Geneva, Switzerland,  WCC convened a side event on 4 March, titled “Human Rights in Indonesia – The Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment.” 4 March 2026, the WCC is hosting a side event at the UN in Geneva, during the 61st session of the UN Human Rights Council,  titled “The Right to a Clean, Healthy, and Sustainable Environment”. Photo: Grégoire de Fombelle/WCC 05 March 2026 The event was co-sponsored by Franciscans International and Forum Asia.  The discussion focused on the grave human rights and environmental implications of Indonesia’s Merauke National Strategic Project in South Papua Province, also known as the Merauke Food and Energy Development Zone, and the operations of the Grasberg Mine, the world’s largest combined copper and gold mine.  Peter Prove, director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA), spoke on how the Special Economic Zone by Indonesia’s Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, designated in 2023 as a Merauke Food and Energy Development Zone, spans approximately two million hectares—an area nearly half the size of Switzerland—within Merauke Regency, which covers 4.5 million hectares in total. The project includes large-scale sugarcane plantations, a sugar factory, a bioethanol development initiative, and the creation of one million hectares of new rice fields. If fully implemented, it risks becoming the largest deforestation project in the world. Two West Papuan Indigenous women, Dorthea Wabiser, who works for a civil society organization called Pusaka Bentala Ratyak; and Rode Wanimbo, from the Evangelical Church of Indonesia and West Papua Council of Churches, reflected on how they are advocating for Indigenous People’s rights and environmental justice in West Papua.  The Merauke project area overlaps with 858 hectares of natural forests and peatlands that support unique biodiversity, some found nowhere else on earth. The region is also home to thousands of Indigenous West Papuans whose customary lands and livelihoods are directly affected. Land clearing began in May 2024 and has already resulted in the destruction of customary forests and critical ecosystems. Peatland degradation and forest loss are expected to significantly increase carbon emissions, contributing to global climate change while degrading local air quality. The side event raised awareness of the massive scale of the Merauke National Strategic Project and the human rights and environmental impacts at local and global levels.  Speakers urged the government of Indonesia to immediately suspend the project pending a comprehensive re-evaluation to ensure compliance with its international human rights and environmental obligations. Yves Lador, a human rights defender in Geneva, discussed types and mechanism of international environmental law.  “The issue here really is to see how do these obligations in the field of international human rights law directly concern the type of issues we are discussing today,” he said, also highlighting the issue of access to justice. In central Papua, the trade of metals from the Grasberg Mine is producing severe environmental harm through widespread deforestation and river pollution, with an estimated 200,000 tonnes of toxic mining waste dumped into local rivers every day. For the Indigenous West Papuan communities living downstream, the consequences are severe. Rivers once central to fishing and transport have been choked with sediment. Forests they relied on for hunting have vanished under mounds of waste. People suffer from skin diseases and serious health conditions due to heavy metal contamination in the water they use daily for drinking, cooking, and bathing. Stéphanie Caligara, an attorney specializing in international human rights law and strategic litigation with a particular focus on corporate accountability, spoke about how extremely profitable this mine is. “It is actually the biggest gold reserve on the planet, and the second biggest copper mine in the world,” she said. “It produces very valuable commodities, especially in the area where we find ourselves—where we looking to transition as soon as possible to a green economy and where we need these metals.” “Access and transparency”, said CCIA Director Prove in his closing remarks. “This is what we need from the Indonesian Government. We renew our call for Indonesia to issue invitations to the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council to visit West Papua to examine these issues”, he said.  Photo gallery of the event. See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 356 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland