In commemoration of the 79th anniversary of the Republic of Indonesia, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) gave a speech, a part of which touched on the nation’s vitality transition.
In his speech, President Jokowi mentioned that to date, his authorities has been constant in finishing up Indonesia’s vitality transition fastidiously and progressively. Moreover, he maintained that the vitality transition desired by the federal government is a only one, which produces vitality that’s simply accessible and reasonably priced for the general public. Are President Jokowi’s claims true?
The quick reply isn’t any. Because the starting, President Jokowi has not been critical about implementing the vitality transition. At varied worldwide occasions, President Jokowi usually boasts in regards to the Simply Vitality Transition Partnership (JETP) funding scheme, which goals to channel funds from developed nations to help vitality transition actions in growing ones. Nonetheless, he has additionally mentioned that JETP mustn’t disrupt the coal enterprise as an entire, thus locking within the fossil gas.
Virtually concurrently with the launch of JETP, President Jokowi issued Presidential Regulation (Perpres) Quantity 112 in 2022, regarding the Acceleration of Renewable Vitality Growth for Electrical energy Provide. When examined fastidiously, Perpres 112 seems to be a authorized umbrella for the continuation of the coal enterprise via captive energy or built-in energy vegetation in industrial areas.
Jokowi’s strategy of locking in coal was then seen within the Complete Funding and Coverage Plan (CIPP) for Indonesia’s JETP launched in November 2023. Within the CIPP, built-in energy vegetation in industrial areas weren’t taken into consideration in any respect. Is that this locking in of coal per the implementation of a simply vitality transition?
Moreover, President Jokowi defines a simply vitality transition as one wherein renewable vitality is accessible and reasonably priced for communities. Logically, for vitality to be accessible and reasonably priced, it should be produced near the group. Vitality centralisation should be make means for vitality democratisation. Nonetheless, actuality on the bottom is totally different. The CIPP ignores the event of community-based renewable vitality and directs its funding in direction of large-scale renewable vitality improvement. Giant-scale renewable vitality improvement strengthens vitality centralisation and sometimes causes agrarian and environmental conflicts with surrounding communities.
However, relating to community-based renewable vitality, the analysis outcomes of Indonesia’s Middle of Financial and Legislation Research (Celios) and 350.org Indonesia, titled Alternatives and Challenges for Neighborhood-Primarily based Renewable Vitality, present that if 50 p.c of the US$20 billion JETP funds are allotted to develop community-scale renewable vitality, it could possibly produce a capability of two.18 gigawatts (GW). Which means that community-based renewable vitality mills are not less than able to changing 3.3 steam energy plant items equal to Cirebon-1, which has a capability of 660 megawatts (MW). Not solely that, community-based renewable vitality can also be able to contributing IDR 10,529 trillion to gross home product (GDP) over 25 years.
Though community-based renewable vitality improvement will produce extra accessible and reasonably priced vitality for Indonesians, shouldn’t be thought-about worthwhile by wealthy nations and worldwide help establishments as a result of JETP’s funding construction is dominated by international debt.
President Jokowi’s weak dedication to the vitality transition is more and more obvious when the federal government awarded coal mining concessions to 2 mass Islamic organisations, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah. President Jokowi should know that the issue with coal shouldn’t be solely confined to the areas the place it’s mined, but additionally the burning of coal, which causes a rise in greenhouse fuel emissions, worsening the local weather disaster. This clearly weakens President Jokowi’s dedication to the vitality transition.
The involvement of NU and Muhammadiyah within the soiled enterprise of coal vitality shouldn’t be solely a washer for the ecological sins of the coal trade however will even weaken the environmental motion by Indonesia’s civil society.
Sooner or later, the environmental motion will conflict with NU and Muhammadiyah. As stakeholders within the coal vitality enterprise, NU and Muhammadiyah will virtually actually reject any concept of a clear vitality transition as this might disrupt their enterprise pursuits. It’s potential that to cease the environmental motion spreading narratives in regards to the vitality transition, each mass organisations will use non secular narratives. This use of spiritual narratives to defend the coal vitality might result in bodily and verbal violence in opposition to environmental activists. Is that this what President Jokowi meant by implementing the vitality transition fastidiously?
Our fear now could be that this follow of solely paying lip service to the vitality transition will proceed within the period of the subsequent Indonesian President, Prabowo Subaianto. In worldwide boards, Prabowo has frequently emphasised that his authorities is a continuation of President Jokowi’s. Which means that shall be no change in Prabowo’s authorities in the case of vitality insurance policies.
One of many causes the general public doubts Prabowo’s dedication to the vitality transition is because of the incoming president’s observe file and his affiliation with coal vitality businessmen. In the course of the 2024 presidential election, coal firm boss Garibaldi ‘Boy’ Thohir confidently declared his help for Prabowo. Actually, in accordance with the Mining Advocacy Community (JATAM), Prabowo Subianto was as soon as a shareholder in a coal firm with a concession space of 4,793 hectares in Berau, East Kalimantan. What sort of simply vitality transition could be anticipated from Prabowo Subianto given his ties to the soiled coal trade?
Confronted with these realities, we count on that Jokowi’s vitality transition platitudes shall be continued by Prabowo over the subsequent 5 years. Darkish clouds for environmental safety loom over Indonesia’s horizon. The one technique to dispel them is to ask the general public to proceed talking out on what an equitable vitality transition ought to appear to be. Nonetheless, it’s potential that sooner or later, talking out will turn out to be a luxurious, similar to it was when President Soeharto, who can also be Prabowo Subianto’s former father-in-law, was in energy in Indonesia.
Firdaus Cahyadi is the interim Indonesia Group Lead for local weather marketing campaign group 350.org.
