Publications
Evidence with a purpose.
Reports, policy briefs, press releases, books, and public commentary in one searchable archive.
Energy plantations are driving social and environmental inequality
An opinion article by zakiul fikri, published in The Jakarta Post.
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Wage war against illegal imports
Opinion article by Nailul Huda, published in Investor Daily.
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Indonesia-GCC free trade agreement: promises and ways ahead
Opinion article by Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat, published in NUS.
Read publicationBRICS membership: a reality check for Indonesia
Opinion article by Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat, published in Think China.
Read publicationIndonesia-China relations in 2024: year-in-review
An opinion article by Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat, published in China Global South.
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Who is hungry? Who is full?: Risk mitigation in the Free Nutritious Meal Program
The Prabowo-Gibran administration has allocated IDR 71 trillion to implement the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) Program in 2025. As one of its political promises, the program is certain to be implemented. However, a critical question arises: will its implementation and management truly be effective and sustainable? This report examines the potential risks of the MBG Program, from uneven distribution and questionable food quality to budget inefficiencies
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PSN eroding special autonomy and the rights of Indigenous Papuans: Land grabbing in the name of food and energy self-sufficiency
The National Strategic Project (PSN) for the Merauke Food and Energy Development Area in South Papua has raised serious concerns about agrarian governance. A CELIOS report titled “PSN Eroding Special Autonomy and the Rights of Indigenous Papuans” reveals that regional expansion through revisions to the Papua Special Autonomy Law has facilitated land grabbing from Indigenous communities as a result of a deliberate legal vacuum in spatial planning. “This shows that regional expansion through revisions to the Special Autonomy Law…
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Indonesia digital economy outlook 2025
Rapid digital transformation has reshaped Indonesia’s economic landscape, creating new business models, job opportunities, and room for innovation. The CELIOS study “Indonesia Digital Economy Outlook 2025” provides projections for the development of the digital economy while highlighting key challenges. Nailul Huda, CELIOS Director of Economics, says, “Unfortunately, in 2025, the e-commerce sector is projected to grow by only 0.5% to IDR 471 trillion due to declining purchasing power and the potential increase in
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The green ambition trap for forests: Japan's energy transition and the harmful illegal biomass exports to Indonesia
Indonesia is beginning to look to wood biomass as one alternative in the energy transition, legitimized through the Energy Plantation (HTE) scheme under Minister of Environment and Forestry Regulation No. 62 of 2021 on diversifying the functions of forest areas to support national energy security. Wood biomass in the form of wood pellets and wood chips is being promoted for co-firing with coal at power plants and touted as a way to reduce dependence on fossil energy. However, a CELIOS study
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Transparency in Cabinet Performance Evaluation
Opinion article by Muhammad Saleh, published in Detik.
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Vanishing forests, soaring emissions: The Merauke Food Estate accelerates the climate crisis
Amid global calls to reduce emissions, Indonesia could instead double its emissions simply by proceeding with the Merauke food estate megaproject. Clearing 2 million hectares of forest in Merauke could generate an additional 782.45 million tons of CO₂ in carbon emissions, equivalent to a carbon loss of IDR 47.73 trillion. As a result of the Merauke food estate project, Indonesia may fall around 5 to 10 years behind its Net Zero Emission target for
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Critique at the limits of transition: rekindling the embers of resistance against the hijacking of the energy and economic transition
The fronts that CELIOS’s team focused on throughout 2024 covered major issues: countering the energy transition’s wrong turn, promoting a restorative economy, ensuring fiscal policy works for the middle class and the poor, and addressing digital transformation’s growing distance from its mission of promoting welfare. From the energy-transition front, we learned how narratives and plans promoting false solutions—natural gas (also a fossil fuel) and carbon-capture technology—have strayed far from the essence of a just energy transition.
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