NAIROBI, THE NUSANTARA POST— Earlier this May, IGG Maha Adi, Executive Director of Green Press Indonesia, embarked on a 10-day visit to Ethiopia and Kenya as part of the Connect Fund Project, focusing on climate and science disinformation. The trip followed a week-long program in Cape Town, South Africa, as part of his ongoing fellowship with the Bertha Challenge.
In Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, Green Press Indonesia met with activists from the Social Justice Center and 12 local journalists to discuss the growing concern of climate disinformation—especially those perpetuated by government institutions. The Social Justice Center operates nearly 90 hubs across Kenya, tackling issues from human rights and environmental justice to extractive industry impacts, water access, reproductive justice, and state violence.
Maha Adi and fellow activists were taken to two of Nairobi’s most climate-vulnerable urban slums—Korogocho and Mathare—which were devastated by flash floods in 2024. The disasters claimed dozens of lives in settlements along the riverbanks.
According to local activists and journalists, the Kenyan government failed to take sufficient preventive action and instead took a fatalistic stance, blaming climate change and framing the tragedy as an unavoidable natural disaster. “The government did not provide accurate or sufficient information about their response plans,” said Dennis Orengo, a local activist. “As a result, these poor communities are left uncertain about their future post-disaster.” During extreme droughts, the same neighborhoods also face severe clean water shortages, despite water tank donations from civil society organizations.
Green Press Indonesia was invited to tour Korogocho and Mathare, witnessing firsthand the impact of the floods and the daily life of residents rebuilding amid vulnerability.
Another activist, Tiffani Mbuga, criticized the Nairobi city government for failing to follow through on promises to rehabilitate the flood-affected areas and implement climate mitigation programs. “They’ve abandoned the most powerless communities in Nairobi,” she said.
Maha Adi pointed out that Kenya’s experience echoes Indonesia’s, especially regarding energy transition and corruption. Speaking to fellow journalists and activists, he shared how the Indonesian government has not honored its pledge to retire coal-fired power plants early, as mandated by Presidential Regulation No. 112/2022.
Despite commitments made under the Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETP), the Indonesian government has yet to publish its energy transition roadmap—required to unlock the $20 billion pledged by G20 nations. “It’s a chicken-and-egg situation,” said Maha Adi. “Indonesia is waiting for funding commitments to start investing in clean energy, while donor countries are waiting for Indonesia to act first.” He also emphasized that coal continues to dominate Indonesia’s energy mix, a sector deeply entangled in corruption, with four former CEOs of the state utility PLN jailed.
Maha Adi also recalled a disturbing example of public disinformation during the extreme air pollution crisis in Jakarta in mid-2023. “A senior official from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry confidently claimed that coal-fired power plants were not to blame—it was all urban sources,” he said. “Just 15 days later, after the president demanded transparency, the minister overruled her own staff, admitting that coal plants were the second-largest source of pollution after transportation.”
“This is blatant disinformation,” he concluded. “And there’s been zero accountability. This is impunity for environmental crimes.”
Looking ahead, Green Press Indonesia is planning further coverage in Mongolia to investigate climate-related disinformation in local media. It may also host European Bertha fellows for investigative reporting projects in Indonesia (Marwan Aziz).
