Indonesia Can Control Emissions, but Strong Commitment Needed

KOMPAS/WISNU WIDIANTORO

Exhaust smoke from the chimney of the West Java 2 Steam Power Plant or known as the Pelabuhan Ratu PLTU which is located at Cipatuguran Beach, Jayanti Village, Palabuhanratu, Sukabumi Regency, West Java, Wednesday (4/1/2023).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The result of a national greenhouse gas inventory shows that Indonesia can control emissions under the set scenario. However, the commitment to control emissions needs to be strengthened at the local and global levels, particularly in the energy transition sector.

Adila Isfandiari, a climate and energy campaigner for Greenpeace Indonesia, said the Indonesian government had so far made several improvements in its commitment in coping with climate change. This, among other things, is demonstrated by a number of concrete efforts and actions in overcoming the climate crisis, especially at the global level, throughout 2022.

An example of the improvement of the commitment is the renewal of the national emission reduction contribution document (NDC) target and the energy transition commitment that was unveiled at the Group of 20 Leaders’ Summit in Bali recently. In the NDC update, Indonesia increased its emission reduction target to 31.89 percent with its own efforts and 43.2 percent with international support.

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"However, there are still many improvements and opportunities that can be further taken by the government to increase Indonesia's climate commitments in 2023. As with the NDC renewal, even though there is an increase in targets, it turns out that Indonesia's NDC is still not enough to achieve the Paris Agreement targets," Adila said in Jakarta on Wednesday (4/1/2023).

Indonesia's energy transition commitment is also seen as not optimal. This is because the plan to accelerate the termination of the operational period of the coal-fired power plant (PLTU) has not been included in the NDC renewal mitigation plan. In fact, the PLTU's early retirement needs to be done as soon as possible to make room for the development of renewable energy.

Adila added that there were still various solutions that actually had the potential to increase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, such as mixing coal with biomass (co-firing), biofuels and clean coal technology. These various solutions that are considered not on target need to be fixed in the upcoming NDC update.

Increasing Indonesia's commitment and climate action is urgently needed.

In addition, the government should also take advantage of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) funding commitment as an opportunity for Indonesia, through the G20, to accelerate the energy transition. At the same time, it can end Indonesia's dependence on coal, which produces high GHG emissions.

"Increasing Indonesia's commitment and climate action is urgently needed, moreover the global stocktake process will begin in 2023 to assess the progress of achieving the targets of the Paris Agreement from each country," said Adila.

KOMPAS/WAWAN H PRABOWO (WAK)

Rows of windmills for the Wind Power Plant (PLTB) on a hilltop in Tanarara Hamlet, Maubokul Village, Pandawai District, East Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara, Wednesday (3/2/2021).

Controlled emissions

Based on data from the national GHG inventory, Indonesia controlled emissions in 2020 and 2021. In fact, the emissions produced by Indonesia are under the set scenario.

In the national GHG inventory, the government sets targets for scenarios of reducing emissions through its own efforts (CM1) and scenarios with international assistance (CM2). This emission reduction scenario continues to increase every year until it reaches the target in 2030.

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In 2020, the CM1 target set was 1,476 megatons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtonCO2e) and 1,279 MtonCO2e for the CM2 target. Meanwhile, Indonesia's emissions, from the results of the 2020 national GHG inventory that have been verified, reached 1,080 MtonCO2e.

In 2021, Indonesia's emissions reached 1,038 MtonCO2e or lower than the CM1 scenario target of 1,511 MtonCO2e or CM2, which was 1,341 MtonCO2e. However, the results of the 2021 GHG inventory have yet to be verified.

Site level

The director-general of Climate Change Control at the Environment and Forestry Ministry (KLHK) Laksmi Dwanthi in a reflection activity at the end of 2022 in Jakarta stated that the results of the national GHG inventory showed Indonesia had been able to control emissions even under the target scenario.

”However, this achievement does not mean that we will not fight for developed countries to fulfill their commitments. So we keep demanding and make others give harder efforts. This achievement is the result of joint work," he said.

According to Laksmi, this global commitment to reducing emissions is also reflected down to the site level through the Climate Village Program (Proklim). To date, 424 Proklim projects have been formed in all regions of Indonesia. This program will continue to be improved to achieve the target of forming 20,000 Proklim projects by 2024.

However, this achievement does not mean that we will not fight for developed countries to fulfill their commitments.

”Proklim aims to increase climate resilience. Proklim also contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Indonesia. All of these efforts are recorded in the Indonesian National Registry System," he said.

Laksmi emphasized that in accordance with the agreement at the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt, Indonesia was still committed to strengthening the energy sector. However, this must be balanced with other sectors, such as forestry and maritime affairs.

Going forward, the Environment and Forestry Ministry will continue to develop, update and strengthen actions through all climate change control support systems.

This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi.