Activists from the environmental group Greenpeace were blocked en route to Bali for the G20 summit that Indonesia will host this year.
Activists have been cycling across the country to highlight the impact of climate change in various parts of the archipelago and plan to end their journey in Bali to appeal to world leaders for more action on climate change. was doing.
Seventeen heads of state will attend the G20 summit on November 15th and 16th.
Greenpeace’s ‘Chasing the Shadow’ cycling team has been repeatedly threatened for traveling to Bali, Leonard Simanjuntak, Indonesia’s representative to the non-governmental organization, said on Tuesday.
The group was intercepted in Probolinggo, East Java, by people affiliated with Tapal Kuda Nusantara (TKN), a pro-government non-profit organization that helped Indonesia secure the G20 summit, and was told not to continue traveling to Bali. was advised to
One Greenpeace activist was forced to sign a letter confirming that Greenpeace would not conduct any campaign during the G20 summit in Bali, Simanjuntak said. .
“Since their time in Semarang, the team of cyclists have received threats from both strangers and people in police uniforms. We have reached out to the Greenpeace team,” Simanjuntak told Indonesian publication Assumption.co.
In Semarang, Greenpeace held a photo exhibition, public forums and musical performances to raise awareness of climate impacts such as rising sea levels.
“The government has made great efforts to make the G20 safe for world leaders visiting Bali. We don’t want the cycling campaign to end in Bali,” Muharram Asa Rashadi, Campaign Manager at Greenpeace Indonesia, told Eco Business.
It was unclear at the time of publication whether Greenpeace would continue its cycling tour to Bali.
A major theme of the G20 summit is to reduce emissions in response to climate change. Indonesia has pledged to reach net-zero emissions by 2060, but critics say the target falls short and doesn’t align with global climate goals.
Indonesian civic space has been shrinking in recent years, especially since the passage of a comprehensive law in 2020. The Enterprise Protection Act impedes the ability of public bodies, especially foreign-backed bodies like Greenpeace, to challenge environmental problems or projects that may cause environmental problems. social harm.
