As COP30 gets underway in Belém, a group of international parliamentarians has issued a stark warning that West Papua is facing accelerating deforestation, rights abuses and environmental destruction that demand urgent global attention.
In a joint statement, the International Parliamentarians for West Papua (IPWP) said they were “profoundly concerned” about rapidly rising forest loss across the contested territory, warning that the crisis threatens one of the world’s most important carbon sinks.
“West Papua has been under Indonesian control since a controversial 1969 process, ‘the Act of Free Choice’, which saw 1026 West Papuans vote for integration into Indonesia under conditions of intimidation and violence,” the group said, noting the UK Government later described the process as “utterly flawed.”
The statement highlights decades of human rights abuses, demographic change, and large-scale industrial projects including what they describe as “the largest deforestation project in human history.”
They said 71 percent of West Papua’s forest loss has occurred since 2011, despite the region holding more than half of the world’s third-largest rainforest.
“Protecting this unique environment is critical to the preservation of a habitable planet,” the parliamentarians said.
At the centre of the crisis, they said, is a government-backed National Strategic Project in Merauke spanning more than three million hectares for sugarcane and rice.
“The Merauke PSN will release 782.45 million additional tonnes of CO2,” the MPs said. “This makes the Merauke rainforest a denser CO2 sink than the Amazon rainforest.”
They said the project has been pushed forward without genuine consultation with Indigenous West Papuans, violating Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).
The group links deforestation and mining directly to escalating violence.
“According to data compiled by human rights defenders on the ground, a total of 102,966 West Papuans were currently displaced as of October 2025,” the statement said.
They cited the Wabu Block gold mine in Intan Jaya as an example of the “interplay between deforestation and displacement,” noting Amnesty International had documented “a clear escalation in militarisation” linked to the project.
The MPs highlighted several recent atrocities, including the killing of 15 civilians in an Indonesian military raid on Soanggama Village on 15 October.
The parliamentarians said Indonesia’s approach in West Papua is incompatible with global climate commitments.
“We express our deep concern that Indonesia’s programme of deforestation in West Papua is incompatible with UN’s sustainable development goals, as well as the Tropical Forest Forever Facility set to be launched at COP30.”
They urged world leaders to endorse the United Liberation Movement for West Papua’s Green State Vision, calling it a blueprint for “an environmentally just and sustainable West Papua.”
The statement was signed by senior lawmakers from the UK, Europe and the Pacific, including Alex Sobel MP, Carles Puigdemont MEP, Matthew Wale MP of Solomon Islands, and Jeremy Corbyn.
