This interview with Fithriyyah Iskandar, an environmental youth activist and doctor from Indonesia, covers the intersections of human and planetary health issues; the barriers that marginalised communities face when trying to engage with the judicial systems; and the problems with tokenistic involvement of children and young people by governments and organisations.

Fithriyyah (25 years old) is a doctor, and lives in Pontianak city, West Borneo. She has been working on environmental issues since 2015, the same year she joined medical school. She has been involved with local youth work leading on waste management issues, spoken on reform processes and sustainability programmes for Indonesia on international platforms and taken part in various youth movements and climate projects focusing on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals 12-15.

CRIN: How does your medical background influence your climate activism? And vice versa? 

Having been involved in environmental activism whilst studying medicine has really allowed me to understand how human health and environmental health are interconnected. For example, a small change in temperature can affect people's health. A drought or the heatwave can affect how mosquitoes deploy in regions where Malaria is endemic. Climate has become the biggest catalyst of infection for human diseases, besides being a major cause of environmental disaster. So we need a change in the very siloed practice of human health. Many environmentalists already talk about the need for this, but the conversation isn’t happening as much in the public health sector. I want to become a public health practitioner who specialises in the intersections of human and planetary health issues.

Within my role as a doctor, I’m influenced by my climate activism. I see my patients using an environmental approach, trying to look at how their health is affected by the environments they inhabit and move in. The root causes to people’s ill health can often be found within these environments, whether it’s pollution, climate change or other environmental issues. In the conventional way people think doctors cure people using drugs. But I want to cure people through my activism on environmental issues.

CRIN: How have the various roles you have held enabled you to speak up about climate justice issues, and to challenge and influence environmental policies in your country? 

When I started this work in 2015, I didn't have the network or skills to get people to listen to what I was saying. Now I have the power to access decision-making spaces and put pressure on my government from an international level. But getting this kind of access wasn’t easy, because often youth engagement only happens on a local level, or the government isn’t bothered about hearing what the youth have to say. What’s funny is that since 2015, I have been invited to speak and represent youth and my country in high-level policy consultation forums held by UN-ESCAP, Republic of Korea, invited to Kenya and more, but only in early 2021 was I invited by my own local government. They wanted me to talk about policy recommendations on waste management and landfill policies, because I've been working on this for a long time. They asked me what I thought needs to be improved, and I realised that I can use my research to influence policy. I was happy that the government was willing to get the input from teenagers on such advanced level policy issues. But unfortunately many of these issues we’ve advised on still haven’t been addressed, and I think that comes down to a lack of data. Especially in small villages, the monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of new policies is difficult, and that’s where the gap is.

So on the one hand it’s been a huge achievement to be heard by the local government and be invited to be involved in policy making. But on the other hand, it comes down to what they do with my voice. How will they really implement what we've said to them? I’ve had times where I have shared my voice and given input into policies, but then none of the drafts reflect what we’ve said or suggested to them. Sometimes it feels like governments or organisations have engaged with the youth on a symbolic level only, for tokenistic involvement.

CRIN: In what ways do laws and policies about health relate to climate justice? Especially when it comes to children's health and rights?

The climate crisis threatens to undo the last 50 years of progress, especially in terms of global health and poverty reduction. It threatens to widen existing health inequalities, to compound the existing burden of disease, and to add to existing barriers to accessing health services in places where they are most needed. Climate change threatens the essential ingredients of good health, clean air, drinking water and a nutritious food supply and safe shelter. 

And talking about children, of course, a healthy environment is crucial for children to grow, with good nutrition and free of disease. The climate crisis threatens children’s wellbeing in other ways too, for example with poverty driving up child marriage.

It is important for every country to implement laws and policies that address these intersections of human health and the environment. The report of the Special Rapporteur on the issues of human rights outlines a right to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. Rightly so. It mentions that human rights and environmental protection are interdependent and that access to a healthy environment is a necessary prerequisite to basic human rights. It also mentions that children are vulnerable for many reasons. This report will be the main guide for states to implement their national adaptation plan for climate justice. 

CRIN: Have you ever thought of going to court as an avenue for climate activism? If not, why? 

Personally, I've never thought of engaging with the judicial system as I don’t feel particularly equipped. My focus is on engaging with the youth, facilitating climate activism, and empowering new climate advocates. But potentially, in the future, engaging with the law could be an effective avenue. For example, health data could be instrumental in court cases as evidence of negative health impacts and as a result of environmental violations. I believe that the environmental revolution can benefit from the tools and power that the judicial system offers.

But there are barriers too. I think when it comes to environmental court processes, they can be long and it can be difficult unless you are working with an NGO or other support. I am seeing this here in cases of Indigenous people fighting for their land, fighting power to protect the rainforest in Malaysia, Indonesia, especially in Sumatra, and Borneo. The palm oil industry is getting bigger and bigger and when Indigenous communities fight back for their rights, they can get arrested. And when cases go to court, it can be hard to predict the outcome. Even if we are well equipped with legal knowledge, or are working with an NGO, it can be a long process. And if the corporation wins, activists could get arrested and put in jail for a few years, or the corporation sues and we have to pay money. So it can be quite daunting to engage with the law, especially if we don’t have the same level of resources and knowledge that the corporations we are standing up against have. 

CRIN: Do you think there are enough opportunities for children and young people to be involved in climate justice? If not, what other ways are needed to enable children and young people to be more involved in the conversations and decisions that affect them?

One key issue is access to these spaces. I’m lucky because I have the technology to follow the news, connect with other activists and communities, learning about developments and so on, and to raise my voice on behalf of the youth of Indonesia and other ASEAN countries to try and influence policy. But for other young people, especially those living in rural areas or people who have been put in poverty, there is a lack of access to technology, transportation and in many cases even basic needs like accommodation. This is a major issue, because these groups are not only excluded from conversations and spaces, but they also tend to be the ones most affected by the climate crisis. 

For example with Indigenous people, they're being forced to leave their land. And from what I hear from Indigenous friends that I work alongside, there is awareness among the youth about how to challenge climate violations, but the lack of access to the city or the internet make it difficult to get support to tackle the violations they are facing, let alone take their challenges to court. One of my friends is an Indigenous youth working for their community, and she speaks on an international level about the issues her community faces, sometimes with her mom. In the International Pavilion discussion at COP26 she gave a good example of the very important role of access to technology and transportation in her activism. Through delivering her message in an international gathering, she was able to put pressure on her national government. This shows how important access to such spaces is.

It’s also important to acknowledge that in some countries, including Indonesia, some decision makers put the benefit for corporations above that of the people. People’s health is being sacrificed for profit. So in these cases there are active hindrances to the involvement of climate activists, or involvement might happen but it’s only a tick-box exercise and nothing happens from it.

And even in terms of the work I do to raise awareness and educate young people about climate justice, transport and technology plays a huge role. I believe that education is one of the most powerful strategies, because cultivating understanding among the next generation can ensure continued action to combat the destructive potential of climate change. But, for example in the villages near my city which are located inside a palm oil area, there is no cell signal. There are a lot of youth organisations tackling these barriers and working towards more inclusivity, but for these efforts to lead anywhere we also need the support of local/national government. Governments and organisations working on climate justice have a responsibility to ensure that youth engagement is inclusive. This means making information accessible, but also ensuring their views are actually counted in policymaking processes. And this needs to happen at all levels - local, regional and international. They need to put the work in to make sure that they bring together young people from various marginalised groups. And it’s important that they are aware that people’s needs will be different, and they need to be proactive in meeting these needs.

More about Fithriyyah

In her capacity as a climate activist, Fithriyyah is currently Head of Communications at Seangle Indonesia, she champions the Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment as ASEAN Youth Forum’s Youth Right Ambassador, and has just started an internship at the Manushya Foundation, a women-led and innovative non-profit organisation promoting community empowerment to advance the human rights of marginalised communities and fight for social justice based in Thailand. She has been involved in a range of other roles in recent years, from being a youth fellow for Environmental Issues and Natural Resource Management in 2021 and teaching fellow in 2022 at the East-West Center, Hawaii and was awarded for Youth Leaders for Climate Restoration Innovator Awards by the Foundation for Climate Restoration for her active participation as Senior Certified Climate Restoration Advocate. She also joined a youth delegation to attend the UN Montevideo Programme in the Global Headquarter of United Nations Environment Programme in Nairobi, Kenya in June 2022. 

You can find her work on Linkedin and Instagram

This interview is part of our project Children’s Access to Environmental Justice, where we look at how laws and policies protect - or fail to protect - children’s environmental rights across 43 countries around the world. ⁠

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