Unand Lecturer Highlights Ecological Crisis, Proposes Degrowth and SDGs Solutions in West Sumatra at Bali Conference

Bali (ANTARA) - The threat of ecological crises culminating in extreme hydrometeorological disasters management and a fundamental shift in the economic paradigm. This crucial issue concerning environmental sustainability was the main focus of a presentation delivered by Muhammad Thaufan Arifuddin at The 7th International Conference on Environmental Engineering (ICOEE) 2026.

The international conference was held at the Bintang Bali Resort in Kuta, Bali, from July 30 to 31, 2026, bringing together academics and environmental practitioners from various regions. Before the conference attendees, the academic delegation from Universitas Andalas (Unand) comprehensively presented the results of a collaborative research project designed to raise broad ecological awareness.

The presented academic paper was co-authored by academics Mohd. Haris Zuan, Shinta Silvia, and Didi Rahmadi. The study took a sharp analytical focus on the case study of the ecological crisis in West Sumatra, examined through the critical perspective of thinker Kohei Saito and correlated with the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda.

The Anatomy of West Sumatra's Ecological Crisis

Empirically, West Sumatra is currently facing the threat of an extreme ecological disaster rooted in massive environmental exploitation and the expansion of extractive areas, which is further exacerbated by weather anomalies. Systematic land clearing in upstream watershedareas has been scientifically identified as the main catalyst for the flash floods that struck Padang City and its surrounding areas.

The damage to the natural hydrological carrying capacity has had fatal consequences, forcing 13 of the 16 affected districts and cities to officially declare a state of emergency. The series of disasters has paralyzed the social and economic foundations of the community, with data showing that 172 roads and 46 bridges were heavily damaged or completely destroyed, crippling land evacuation access and slowing down infrastructure recovery.

These objective conditions align with the views of academic experts, such as Prof. Marzuki, Head of the Institute for Research and Community Service (LPPM) at Universitas Andalas, who emphasized that climate is not the sole primary variable causing the series of hydrometeorological disasters in West Sumatra. Environmental damage caused by human intervention is a determining factor that significantly worsens the impacts of high rainfall, flash floods, broken bridges, and changes in river flow patterns. When the natural pathways of an ecosystem are disrupted by human activity, the resulting disaster impact will inevitably magnify.

Degrowth Solutions and Ecosystem Rescue

In facing the reality of this massive ecological destruction, Arifuddin's presentation emphasized the need for an in-depth evaluation of the current dominant economic paradigm—a system that prioritizes capital accumulation over ecosystem sustainability. Adopting the critical perspective of Kohei Saito, the presentation reiterated that these exploitative conditions create a "metabolic rift" that severs and destroys the stable organic interaction between human society and the surrounding nature.

In response, discursive resistance is highly necessary through the concept of "degrowth" communication to critically counter the narrative of unlimited economic growth that has continuously ignored the earth's ecological limits. The research approach used to formulate these solutions relied on comprehensive qualitative reviews and case studies.

Synergy with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The transition toward a degrowth model is considered strongly coherent with global efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Specifically, the presentation in Bali highlighted the alignment of this transition with SDG 13 concerning Climate Action. This agenda is also coherent with SDG 16 regarding Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions, where success demands fully accountable public institutions immune from co-optation and oligarchic interests. The analysis also emphasized the urgency of implementing SDG 17 concerning

Partnerships for the Goals.

The implementation of this entire sustainability agenda requires a leadership style rooted in Collective Leadership. Systemic transformation highly demands the creation of an inclusive collaborative ecosystem capable of bridging the public sector, private sector, and civil society into equal and participatory communicative actions, free from the domination of capital instruments.

Civil Society's Role and Environmental Accountability

The academic study explicitly affirmed the crucial role pioneered by civil society elements, including the Padang Legal Aid Institute (LBH Padang), WALHI West Sumatra, and Muhammadiyah West Sumatra. These groups have made maximal efforts to drive strategic agendas such as mitigation, advocacy, and post-disaster recovery in affected areas. However, in field implementation, these initiatives frequently clash with weak law enforcement from state apparatuses in cracking down on oligarchically managed mining and plantation practices.

This latent structural weakness makes West Sumatra's ecology highly vulnerable to hydrometeorological shocks, confirming a serious accountability deficit in regional institutions. Extractive industries have proven to create large-scale ecological vulnerabilities in the form of negative externalities that unfairly burden the broader public with the accumulated costs of damage. This empirical fact clearly shows that corporate profit margins mean nothing compared to the massive fiscal burden the state must bear and the potential collapse of local people's economic pillars.

Concluding the presentation, Arifuddin delivered a strong policy recommendation: to permanently restore West Sumatra's environment, conventional technical post-disaster approaches must be immediately abandoned. The analytical integration of degrowth communication and the development of a just, multi-stakeholder collaborative ecosystem (SDG 17) is an absolute prerequisite to push for systemic recovery, enforce accountability for environmental crimes, and philosophically realize a much more democratic, sustainable eco-socialist future.

Acknowledgement

This activity is funded by the Indonesian Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) on behalf of the Indonesia Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology, and is managed under the Equity Program (Contract No. 4304/B3/DT.03.08/2025).