Religion and Environmental Justice in Indonesia: Reconstructing Theological Responsibility for Climate-Vulnerable Communities

Abstract

Climate change disproportionately affects communities that possess limited economic and institutional capacity to adapt to environmental risks. In Indonesia, coastal communities, rural populations, and economically vulnerable groups may experience significant consequences from flooding, extreme weather, environmental degradation, and resource loss. This article examines environmental justice through Islamic and Christian theological perspectives and considers their implications for Indonesian environmental governance. Using comparative theological and normative analysis, the study explores concepts of stewardship, creation, responsibility, solidarity, and justice toward present and future generations. The article argues that environmental degradation is not merely an ecological problem but also a justice issue because environmental harms are distributed unequally across social groups. Religious communities therefore have responsibilities extending beyond individual environmental morality toward collective advocacy, sustainable institutional practices, and protection of vulnerable communities. The study proposes a theological environmental justice framework combining ecological stewardship, distributive justice, intergenerational responsibility, and solidarity with climate-vulnerable populations. Such a framework can complement legal and policy approaches to environmental protection by providing religiously meaningful motivations for collective action. The article concludes that theology can contribute to environmental justice by reframing ecological responsibility as a moral obligation toward both human communities and the wider creation.