ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to look at Indonesia's environmental conditions leading up to the meltdown and how they may transpire over the next generation, that is, over Indonesia's official second 25-year Long Term Plan. It also aims to signal a plea for Indonesia to avoid practising 'business as usual'. This plea stems from the theory of the precautionary principle which focuses on two issues: the need to halt pollution in advance of concrete knowledge about its impacts, and the need to take responsibility for pollution that is occurring. Indonesia's official environmental efforts have had a wealth of donor funding, which in turn has fostered considerable consultancy exchange. International environmental projects have grafted themselves on to the upper levels of bureaucracy with elite backing. All Indonesian citizens want development, but none wants the negative impacts of ill-managed development. Indonesia is fast heading towards perhaps catastrophic environmental thresholds in its pursuit of development.
