Strengthening Environmental Law through ESG Governance: A Legal Framework for Sustainable Development in Indonesia

Abstract

This study examines how Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) governance can strengthen environmental law to promote sustainable development in Indonesia. It aims to analyze the legal challenges associated with integrating ESG principles into the existing environmental regulatory framework, identify regulatory gaps, and formulate an ESG-based legal model that enhances environmental governance. The research employed a normative-empirical legal approach by combining statutory and doctrinal analysis with empirical data obtained through document analysis, semi-structured interviews, and field observations involving policymakers, environmental law experts, regulators, corporate sustainability practitioners, and other relevant stakeholders. The findings indicate that Indonesia's environmental legal framework remains fragmented, limiting the effective institutionalization of ESG principles and weakening legal certainty, corporate accountability, and regulatory enforcement. The study proposes an integrated ESG-based legal framework emphasizing transparency, accountability, sustainability reporting, stakeholder participation, and coordinated institutional oversight. It concludes that embedding ESG principles into environmental law is essential for strengthening environmental governance and achieving sustainable development. The proposed framework provides both theoretical insights and practical guidance for future environmental law reform and sustainability policymaking in Indonesia.