| Field | Environmental planning |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Indonesia |
| Principal instruments | UU 32/2009, PP 26/2025 |
Environmental carrying capacity in Indonesia is the legal concept of daya dukung dan daya tampung lingkungan hidup (environmental carrying and assimilative capacity), often abbreviated D3TLH. Indonesian environmental law defines carrying capacity (daya dukung) as the ability of the environment to support the life of humans and other living beings and the balance between them, and assimilative capacity (daya tampung) as its ability to absorb substances, energy or other components that enter or are introduced into it.[1][2]
The concept is established by the environmental protection and management law, UU 32/2009, and its determination is regulated by Peraturan Pemerintah 26/2025 on environmental protection and management planning. Capacity is determined by decree of the Minister, a governor or a regent or mayor, and the resulting document records the environmental status of an area as either exceeded (terlampaui) or not yet exceeded (belum terlampaui).[3][4]
Where no environmental protection and management plan has been prepared, the use of natural resources must be based on carrying and assimilative capacity, and spatial plans must take it into account.[3:1][5][6] In the licensing system, a calculation showing that a location can still support a planned business allows a technical approval to be sought together with the environmental approval.[7] The concept is relevant to mining and energy regulation in Indonesia, where a civil-society report on Sulawesi published in September 2026 argued that an exceeded status had not constrained the issue of mining permits.[8]
Pasal 1 of UU 32/2009 defines carrying capacity and assimilative capacity in the terms given above, and ties them to the preservation of environmental functions, which it defines as the series of efforts to maintain the continuity of carrying and assimilative capacity.[1:1] PP 26/2025 repeats both definitions, and defines the environmental function as the benefit the environment provides, in accordance with its carrying and assimilative capacity, as a source and support of the life of humans and other living beings.[2:1]
UU 32/2009 assigns the determination of carrying and assimilative capacity to three levels of government: the Minister for the national level and for islands or archipelagos, the governor for a province and for ecoregions spanning several districts or cities, and the regent or mayor for a district or city and the ecoregions within it. It left the procedure to a government regulation.[3:2] PP 26/2025, signed and promulgated on 5 June 2025, states in its preamble that it implements, among other provisions, Pasal 12 ayat (4) of the law as last amended by UU 6/2023.[9]
Under PP 26/2025, environmental planning proceeds through an environmental inventory, the designation of ecoregions and the preparation of the environmental protection and management plan (Rencana Perlindungan dan Pengelolaan Lingkungan Hidup, RPPLH), and the results of the inventory are the basis for designating ecoregions, determining carrying and assimilative capacity, and preparing the RPPLH.[10] Capacity is prepared by one of three methods: the performance of environmental services, ecological footprint and biocapacity, or another nationally or internationally recognised method.[11]
Pasal 22 provides that the capacity so prepared is set out in a document giving the environmental status as exceeded or not yet exceeded, and is determined by decision (keputusan) of the Minister, the governor or the regent or mayor, at the same three levels as the law. In determining national and island capacity, the Minister coordinates with the ministers responsible for spatial planning, marine affairs and fisheries, and energy and mineral resources. Capacity is evaluated at least once a year to update the status, and the procedure for preparing and determining it is set out in Lampiran II of the regulation.[4:1][12]
UU 32/2009 provides that natural resources are used on the basis of the RPPLH, and that where an RPPLH has not yet been prepared, their use is based on carrying and assimilative capacity, having regard to the continuity of environmental processes and functions, the continuity of environmental productivity, and the safety, quality of life and welfare of the community.[3:3] Pasal 40 of PP 26/2025 restates the rule.[6:1] The law also requires every spatial plan to be based on a strategic environmental assessment and to be set having regard to carrying and assimilative capacity.[5:1]
In business licensing, Pasal 84 ayat (1) of PP 28/2025 on risk-based licensing allows a business to apply for a technical approval at the same time as its environmental approval where a calculation of carrying and assimilative capacity at the planned location shows that it can still support the business, and where the wastewater and hazardous waste to be managed come from the business's own activity.[7:1] The procedure for the environmental approval itself is described at environmental approval in Indonesia.
In September 2026 CRPG's regulatory tracker reported a report by the Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS), a Jakarta-based research organisation, which concluded that Sulawesi had exceeded its environmental carrying and assimilative capacity. The post noted that the conclusion rested on CELIOS's own multi-criteria score for the island rather than on an official determination under Pasal 22 of PP 26/2025, and it reported CELIOS's figures on the growth in mining business permits issued on the island between 2014 and 2024.[8:1]
CRPG's analysis in the same post found that the body of PP 26/2025 attaches no legal consequence to an exceeded status, such as the refusal or review of a permit, and that Pasal 84 of PP 28/2025 gives effect only to a finding that capacity has not been exceeded, by shortening the licensing procedure. The post reported that CELIOS called for an exceeded status to carry binding consequences, including a moratorium on new permits and a review of existing concessions, and for public access to capacity and licensing data.[8:2]
K29[P] Undang-Undang Nomor 32 Tahun 2009 tentang Perlindungan dan Pengelolaan Lingkungan Hidup, Pasal 1 angka 6, 7 and 8. regulation_id UU_32_2009. ↩︎ ↩︎
[P] PP 26/2025, Pasal 1 (definitions of Daya Dukung Lingkungan Hidup, Daya Tampung Lingkungan Hidup and Fungsi Lingkungan Hidup). regulation_id PP_26_2025. ↩︎ ↩︎
[P] UU 32/2009, Pasal 12 ayat (1) to (4). regulation_id UU_32_2009. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
[P] PP 26/2025, Pasal 19 and Pasal 22 ayat (1) and (2). regulation_id PP_26_2025. ↩︎ ↩︎
[P] UU 32/2009, Pasal 19 ayat (1) and (2). regulation_id UU_32_2009. ↩︎ ↩︎
[P] PP 26/2025, Pasal 40 ayat (1) and (2). regulation_id PP_26_2025. ↩︎ ↩︎
[P] Peraturan Pemerintah Nomor 28 Tahun 2025 tentang Penyelenggaraan Perizinan Berusaha Berbasis Risiko, Pasal 84 ayat (1). regulation_id PP_28_2025. ↩︎ ↩︎
[E] "Sulawesi Beyond Limits: Why D3TLH Status Has Not Slowed Mining Permits", CRPG regulatory tracker, crpg.id, 26 September 2026. https://crpg.id/sulawesi-beyond-limits-d3tlh-status-mining-permits/ The post carries a notice that it is AI-generated; it is cited for the record of the development and of the report it describes, not for its legal content. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
[P] Peraturan Pemerintah Nomor 26 Tahun 2025 tentang Perencanaan Perlindungan dan Pengelolaan Lingkungan Hidup, Menimbang and closing formula (Ditetapkan and Diundangkan di Jakarta pada tanggal 5 Juni 2025), Lembaran Negara 2025 No. 96. regulation_id PP_26_2025. ↩︎
[P] PP 26/2025, Pasal 2 and Pasal 11. regulation_id PP_26_2025. ↩︎
[P] PP 26/2025, Pasal 21. regulation_id PP_26_2025. ↩︎
[P] PP 26/2025, Pasal 23, Pasal 24 ayat (1) and (2) and Pasal 25. regulation_id PP_26_2025. ↩︎