Trust in the Process: Renewable Energy Governance in Malaysia and Indonesia

Abstract

Studies on renewable energy (RE) policies and policy making have generally focused on the Global North. This article homes in on how trust, an underexamined concept in the multi‐level governance literature, affects RE trajectories in Malaysia and Indonesia. Through comparative analysis, we find that different levels of trust result in similar degrees of RE policy support, but dissimilar degrees of engagement between state and societal actors in RE policy making. Negative expectations of the social grievances engendered by RE transitions contribute to reluctant, though legitimized, pursuits of clean energy production and consumption. Meanwhile, trust in actors' nationalism—that is, in opposing a Global North environmental agenda and demonstrating constitutionally aligned resource management in Malaysia and Indonesia, respectively—facilitates more inclusive policy making. Due to greater nationalism, Indonesia's state‐society engagement in RE governance is stronger and leads to a civil RE movement that outpaces Malaysia's overall.Related ArticlesAsh, John. 2010. “New Nuclear Energy, Risk, and Justice: Regulatory Strategies for an era of Limited Trust.” Politics & Policy 38 (2): 225‐284. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2010.00237.xKhodr, Hiba, and Isabella Ruble. 2013. “Energy Policies and Domestic Politics in the MENA Region in the Aftermath of the Arab Upheavals: The Cases of Lebanon, Libya, and KSA.” Politics & Policy 41 (5): 656‐689. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12033Wood, Steve. 2009. “Energy Security, Normative Dilemmas, and Institutional Camouflage: Europe's Pragmatism.” Politics & Policy 37 (3): 611‐635. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2009.00187.x