Jakarta, January – As part of the global Resource Justice Network (RJN) coalition, Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Indonesia actively participated in an international webinar series titled “Should civil society continue to invest in EITI?”. This forum served as a crucial space for civil society organizations to review the effectiveness of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) amidst the challenges of the global energy transition and increasingly restricted civic space.
Ketakandriana, the Executive Director of RJN, opened the discussion by emphasizing that the energy transition is shifting power dynamics and intensifying competition over natural resources. In this context, civic space is an absolute prerequisite for achieving resource justice. However, the reality in many countries shows a trend of shrinking civic space that threatens public participation in monitoring the extractive sector.
During the session, Astrid Deborah—Senior Researcher at the Indonesian Centre for Environmental Law (ICEL), a member of the PWYP Indonesia coalition, and a civil society representative in the EITI Indonesia Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG)—provided an in-depth look at the implementation of EITI in the country. She revealed that although Indonesia’s EITI validation reports indicate progress in civic space implementation, the conditions on the ground are far more complex.
Based on her observations, significant challenges still threaten meaningful participation. “Field realities record limited community participation, restrictions on environmental information, and the threat of criminalization against environmental activists,” Astrid stated in her presentation. She noted that EITI should serve as a tool to ensure transparent and accountable natural resource management, but this is impossible to achieve if civic space remains suppressed.
This discussion is part of a series of preparations leading up to the EITI Global Conference, to be held in Manila in June 2026. For PWYP Indonesia, this momentum—along with the renewal process of the EITI Board for the 2026-2029 period—must be leveraged to ensure that civil society’s voice remains the primary compass in transparent and accountable natural resource governance.
PWYP Indonesia is committed to continuing to use the EITI platform as an instrument to drive justice, while remaining critical of any form of civic space suppression within the energy and mining sectors. (AN)