Between energy sovereignty and indigenous rights: a legal pluralism critique of the warim block auction plan in Eastern Indonesia

Indonesia's push for large-scale hydrocarbon expansion in Papua, including the re-auction of the Warim Block, reflects structural dependence on fossil capital accumulation rather than a genuine pursuit of energy sovereignty. The study finds that state law in this process undermines Indigenous land rights and treats conservation status—such as Lorentz National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site—as negotiable when extractive interests dominate. Using legal pluralism critique, critical discourse analysis, and political economy frameworks, the research exposes distributive, procedural, and recognition injustices tied to hydrocarbon capitalization in Amungme customary territory. It argues for Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) as a substantive veto mechanism, alongside structural fiscal reform, to address these systemic inequities.

Reumi, T. A. S., & Sujadi, S. (2026). Between energy sovereignty and indigenous rights: a legal pluralism critique of the warim block auction plan in Eastern Indonesia. Legal Pluralism and Critical Social Analysis, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/27706869.2026.2732383