When Voices Rise: VCA Shifts Power to Communities at the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis

On 24 September 2024, in Maumere, Sikka, Indonesia, forty-five community representatives from youths, farmers, fisherfolk, Indigenous leaders, and civil society actors stood together and voiced what had long gone unspoken: that the climate crisis in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) compounds decades of structural injustice.

From that gathering emerged a powerful manifesto titled “Development and Economic Injustice in East Nusa Tenggara Adds to the Double Burden of Communities Facing the Climate Crisis.” Written through participatory dialogue and grounded in lived experience, the document was submitted directly to the Sikka Regency and NTT Provincial Governments and contributed academically to the Climate Justice Bill being championed by the ARUKI coalition.

The submission was not merely an act of protest, but it marked a milestone. This is a concrete illustration of how platforms supported by Voices for Just Climate Action (VCA) are empowering historically marginalised voices to actively influence public policy. Across Indonesia, the work of VCA is creating space at the table for women, Indigenous peoples, gender-expansive individuals, and other marginalised communities, being the ones who are now no longer passive recipients of climate programmes, but active decision-makers in their own right.

In East Flores, Maria Mone Soge, a farmer and advocate for local food systems from Hewa Village, participated in a national-level consultation convened by WRI Indonesia. There, alongside experts and policymakers, she provided grounded insights on food systems and climate resilience. Her knowledge did not come from textbooks but from the land itself, and her recommendations now inform a strategic framework designed to shape Eastern Indonesia’s food economy.

In Unurum Guay, Papua, six women’s groups came together in 2024 to establish the Women’s Climate Action Forum, a collective platform formally recognised and supported by the sub-district government. This marked a significant shift in a context that often marginalises Indigenous women in decision-making. Through the forum, they now hold a legitimate voice in setting local development priorities, planning climate adaptation, and directing resource allocation. While in Sarbe, Teluk Bintuni District, the ASWANEI women’s group successfully advocated for capital support to establish a community enterprise: BUMKAM “Torang Bisa.” Their efforts resulted in the allocation of IDR 30 million in seed funding secured through formal agreements with local authorities, demonstrating how women are not only participating but also leading in both economic and climate resilience planning.

Moving to Tambrauw, Indigenous communities from Resye and Womom gained formal recognition for their ecotourism initiative, REFUN RESYE AND WOMOM, as an official community tourism group (Pokdarwis). They also proposed and received government approval for a solar energy project aimed at reducing dependence on fossil fuels while strengthening local infrastructure. These efforts, led by Indigenous leaders and supported by youth groups, were inclusive and gender-responsive at every stage. Through the implementation of VCA Indonesia, urban voices are also rising.

From Maumere to Teluk Bintuni, from Papua to Yogyakarta, these stories show that climate justice is not simply a policy ambition, but it is a living and ongoing struggle led by real people in real communities. It is Maria speaking the truth in a policy forum. It is Amo knocking on government doors. It is women carving out space in planning processes. It is grassroots action that begins locally and resonates nationally.

These stories are more than isolated achievements; they also directly point to a deeper systemic shift. Across Indonesia, VCA is helping forge pathways that allow marginalised groups to move from the margins of climate conversations to the centre of decision-making. Their participation is no longer symbolic; it has now become structural, policy-shaping, and power-shifting.