Rasyikah Md Khalid

Indonesia faces a significant challenge in wastewater management, exacerbated by environmental degradation and the changing climate. This study addresses two main questions: What is the legal framework governing reclaimed wastewater management in Indonesia? How is the implementation of reclaimed wastewater management conducted in Indonesia? The answers to these questions guide the objectives of analyzing national and international regulations to identify barriers and proposing improvements through a normative legal analysis method with primary legal material, focusing on international, national, and local regulations regarding wastewater reclamation. The findings reveal that although Indonesia has established a legal framework for wastewater management, it lacks a clear enforcement mechanism, and its implementation is fragmented at the local level. Due to regional disparities, such policy implementation should evaluate and adopt suitable international best practices on wastewater treatment and recycling mechanisms. This study recommends policy harmonization, increased investment in infrastructure, and the adoption of best practices in sustainable wastewater management. Public awareness and private sector engagement are also essential to ensuring effective implementation and long-term sustainability.

Climate change will cause ecosystem changes that will affect all aspects of human life on earth. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in its fifth assessment report (AR5), stated that climate change is also having an impact on the marine environment. Indonesia as an archipelagic country will of course also feel the domino effect of climate change. Therefore, climate change is very urgent to be discussed in Indonesia. This article will examine and formulate derivative regulations which are implementation instruments to provide legal protection for the environment and coastal residents when facing the impacts of climate change. This paper applies normative research methods as well as a contextual approach, historical approach, legal approach, comparative approach and case approach which will then be analyzed qualitatively. Specifically, this article will analyze the Buton Regency, especially the North Buton Regency government's efforts to overcome climate change which is realized by the existence of regional regulations that specifically regulate Climate Change Adaptation [API] as well as integrating regional regulations with API elements, especially in the sectors of spatial design, development planning and disaster management. So, it can be a reference for a regions that have coastal areas to achieve the target of Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs] point 13.

Household solid waste (HSW) generation and its illegal disposal pose significant challenges to Sierra Leone, leading to public health and environmental harm. While municipal by-laws are implemented to deal with HSW in Sierra Leone, existing literature shows significant inadequacies in these laws. This paper employs normative legal research to examine the relevant laws in Sierra Leone and their adequacy and discusses related laws in South Korea and Indonesia. The findings reveal significant areas for improvement in Sierra Leone's laws, regulations, and policies pertaining to HSW, such as the absence of specific provisions to address HSW and the non-binding nature of existing provisions. Observing the relevant laws and measures in South Korea and Indonesia could significantly improve Sierra Leone's waste laws, leading to better HSW minimization. The proposed measures include establishing clear and specific laws and regulations for HSW management, implementing stricter penalties for HSW violations, promoting public awareness and education on waste reduction and recycling, and providing incentives for waste reduction and recycling. By doing so, Sierra Leone can improve public health, protect the environment, and promote sustainable development.

The growing global demand for new cars has resulted in a rise in end-of-life vehicles (ELV), both with usable and non-usable parts. Malaysia faces a particularly pressing issue of abandoned vehicles (AVs), as the country currently lacks comprehensive legislation for managing ELV. On the other hand, countries such as the US, Japan, Belgium, Korea, and China have well-established ELV management policies. In light of this, a pilot study assessed the public’s perception and attitudes towards ELV issues and regulations in Malaysia. The study gathered participants’ views on surrender, deregistration, disposal costs, incentives, recycling, and ELV regulations. The questionnaire used in the study was based on the findings from a previous report. The data were analysed using SPSS version 27, based on 40 interviews with diverse participants. The results of the study revealed three primary themes: “AV and its ELV”, “ELV disposal procedures”, and “ELV regulation and conflict resolution”, with 14 sub-themes. The study adopts a regulatory approach towards ELV and AVs and highlights the importance of an effective voluntary surrender system in Malaysia as a step towards comprehensive ELV regulation. The findings of this pilot study provide valuable insights into the Malaysian public’s views on ELV and can inform the development of more effective and comprehensive ELV legislation.

The world has relied on fossil fuel energy for a long time, producing many adverse effects. Long-term fossil fuel dependency has increased carbon emissions and accelerated climate change. In addition, fossil fuels are also depleting and will soon be very costly. Moreover, the expensive national electricity grid has yet to reach rural areas and will be cut off in inundation areas. As such, alternative and carbon-free hydrogen fuel cell energy is highly recommended as it solves these problems. The reviews find that (i) compared to renewable energy such as solar, biomass, and hydropower, a fuel cell does not require expensive transmission through an energy grid and is carbon-free, and hence, it is a faster agent to decelerate climate change; (ii) fuel cell technologies have reached an optimum level due to the high-efficiency production of energy, and they are environmentally friendly; (iii) the absence of a policy on hydrogen fuel cells will hinder investment from private companies as they are not adequately regulated. It is thus recommended that countries embarking on hydrogen fuel cell development have a specific policy in place to allow the government to fund and regulate hydrogen fuel cells in the energy generation mix. This is essential as it provides the basis for alternative energy governance, development, and management of a country.

Countries globally have enjoyed unprecedented economic growth in the present times, even though this economic growth has its consequence on the environment and public health. This development has seen the unrestricted cutting down of forests, waste generation, extinction of species, etc. Addressing these predicaments, the United Nations, at the global level, has urged States to develop and enforce environmental legislation, policies, and strategies. As a member of the United Nations, Sierra Leone has promulgated several environmental legislations and policies to address and regulate environmental matters. Besides developing these laws, Sierra Leone has historically witnessed massive environmental degradation, ranging from illegal and reckless cutting down of forests, waste generation, illegal dumping, and more. To this, add the extreme lack of awareness and education. Based on library research, this paper discusses the relevant environmental laws in Sierra Leone and other specific international laws and argues that despite the ongoing environmental degradation in Sierra Leone with the inadequacies in the legal framework, Environmental awareness and Public Participation will play a significant role in mitigating environmental degradation in Sierra Leone.

End-of-life vehicle (ELV) management is becoming increasingly important as the automotive industry is one of the world’s most critical sectors and is rapidly expanding. ELV management is essential for environmental protection and wellbeing under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3, provides more jobs under SDG 8, and promotes a circular economy under SDG 11. All these factors contribute to the importance of ELV management as a research topic. Today, ELV management is well-positioned and an emerging research area particularly on ELV recycling systems in Europe, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China. This paper aims to provide a review of ELV management in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, which are the major automotive production bases in Southeast Asia, but which lack formal ELV recycling policies. Towards this end, the researchers have adopted a qualitative study in which document research has been used to analyze existing scientific studies and other published sources. The findings reveal that immature ELV management systems in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia are the reason that no specific ELV laws and regulations exist, as well as why there are no precise ELV statistics. Nevertheless, there have been growing concerns about ELV management, as evidenced by environmental regulations and programs aimed at better management of ELV recycling in these countries. These findings will assist the respective authorities in formulating specific laws and regulations that will ensure sustainable management of ELV and will also ensure a better life and economy for society and for industry.

As a party to the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Malaysia is committed to reduce its greenhouse gases (GHG) emission intensity of gross domestic product (GDP) by 45% by 2030 relative to the emission intensity of GDP in 2005. One of the ways for Malaysia to reduce its GHG emission is to diversify its energy mix and to include hydrogen fuel cell (HFC) in its energy mix. Since Malaysia does not have any legal framework for HFCs, it is best to see how other countries are doing and how can it be replicated in Malaysia. This paper reviews the HFC legal framework in the United States, Germany and South Korea as these countries are among those that have advanced themselves in this technology. The researchers conducted a library-based research and obtained the related materials from online databases and public domain. Based on the reviews, the researchers find that these countries have a proper legal framework in place for HFC. With these legal frameworks, funds will be available to support research and development, as well as demonstration of HFC. Thus, it is recommended that Malaysia to have a proper HFC legal framework in place in order to support the development of the HFC industry.

Brief overview of a few neighbouring countries which have different legal regimes in water laws and conflicts. There were water transfer conflicting rules in some countries as against water as a right. The clash between environmental are human rights, constrains of market perspective are also discussed. The first part discussed about the codification of water laws as a right or privilege and products containing water, such as agricultural produce are subjected to trade disciplines and trade barriers. In the case of bulk transfers of fresh water, private contractual remedies and negotiations between the parties or remedies available in public international law were reviewed, rather than the remedies provided for in trade agreements disputes such as in NAFTA. The latter part discussed about GATS and remedies in public international laws pertaining to water ownership and water transfer laws.