Ecological Justice in Brebes Coastal Areas: Community Adaptation to Tidal Flooding and Climate Governance Challenges

Abstrak

Coastal communities are increasingly vulnerable to the compounded impacts of climate change, including sea-level rise and more frequent tidal flooding, which threaten livelihoods, housing security, and ecosystem. In Brebes, Central Java, these challenges are intensified by high population density, dependence on coastal resources, and fragmented environmental governance. This study employs a This study employs a socio-legal approach, using a normative-empirical methodology, to examine how legal norms and climate adaptation policies intersect with the lived realities of affected communities. It integrates doctrinal analysis of national and regional regulations, such as spatial planning policies, disaster risk assessments, and coastal adaptation strategies, with empirical fieldwork involving observations and in-depth interviews with residents, local leaders, and officials from key agencies. The findings reveal that while communities have developed grassroots adaptive strategies, such as house elevation and community-built embankments, these measures remain technical, reactive, and disconnected from structured long-term governance. Government interventions tend to be top-down, short-term, and focused on post-disaster relief, neglecting ecological justice and limiting community participation. Structural barriers, including weak inter-agency coordination, fiscal constraints, and poor accountability, further hinder integration of community-based adaptation into policy frameworks. The study concludes that sustainable and equitable climate resilience requires governance reform embedding ecological justice, local knowledge, and community leadership in adaptation planning.