Accelerate Transition to Clean Energy

KOMPAS/AHMAD ARIF

Thousands of people, dominated by adolescents from various countries, stage a rally in Madrid on Friday (6/12/2019) evening, demanding that world leaders taking part in the COP25 climate talks in the city take real action against climate change. The rally was also joined, among others, by youth activist Greta Thunberg from Sweden. The gap between targets and the reality of reducing emissions has triggered anxiety and social movements in many countries.

MADRID, KOMPAS — The transition from fossil energy to renewables is an important key to curbing the rise of greenhouse gas emissions. However, global use of coal-based energy, including in Indonesia, shows a trend that contradicts the national emissions-reduction target.

This was exposed in a workshop on energy, transportation and housing held by the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action (MPGCA) at a side forum of the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC-COP25) in Madrid, Spain, on Saturday (7/12/2019).

The Yearbook of Global Climate Action 2019 report cited that renewable energy contributed 17.5 percent of global energy consumption in 2016. In 2018, around 25 percent of global energy derived from renewable sources. Increased use of renewable energy in 2018 prevented the emission of 215 million additional tons of carbon.

However, the increase is still deemed inadequate.

However, the increase is still deemed inadequate. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggests that renewable energy use should be increased up to 80 percent by 2050 to prevent a global temperature rise of more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Indonesia’s stance

Based on Indonesia’s national determined contribution (NDC), the greatest contributor to carbon emission is forestry (47.8 percent) and energy (34.9 percent). In a meeting with Deputy Environment and Forestry Minister Alue Dohong on Friday (6/12), UNFCCC COP26 president-designate Claire Perry O’Neill said that the UK offered technical and financial assistance to Indonesia to commit to the energy transition from coal to new and renewable sources.

This contradicts the IPCC’s recommendation of a two-thirds reduction in coal-based power plants by 2030 and a closure of all coal-based power plants by 2050 to reduce the effects of global warming.

Separately, Greenpeace Indonesia climate and energy campaigner Tata Mustasya said on Sunday (8/12) that the direction of Indonesia’s energy sector development contradicted its emissions-reduction target. Up to 2025, Indonesia’s power sector will be dominated by coal-based power plants (54 percent). This contradicts the IPCC’s recommendation of a two-thirds reduction in coal-based power plants by 2030 and a closure of all coal-based power plants by 2050 to reduce the effects of global warming.

“Indonesia plans to develop 27GW of new coal-based power plants in addition to the 28GW of existing coal-based power plants. This will create an additional 200 million tons of carbon emissions per year,” Tata said.

Under such conditions, Climate Tracker Action (CAT) cites Indonesia as being highly remiss in terms of achieving national emissions-reduction targets. Indonesia’s NDC target is to reduce emissions by 29 percent independently or by 41 percent with international assistance by 2030.

The key is the government’s political commitment must be followed by implementation.

“Indonesia should learn from other developing countries successful in clean energy transformation, such as Costa Rica or Uruguay. The key is the government’s political commitment must be followed by implementation,” Tata said.