Indonesia largest among developing nations to pursue energy transition

Indonesia is one of the few countries and the largest among the developing countries to take concrete steps to realize a just and affordable energy transition, a Finance Ministry official has said.

“This shows a strong signal of Indonesia’s seriousness to address the risk of climate change,” Chief of the Fiscal Policy Board at the Finance Ministry Febrio Kacaribu said in a written statement released on Monday.

The Indonesian Government will optimize its active involvement in various international forums, including the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to set an example to other countries and catalyze cooperation in mitigating and overcoming the impact of climate change through concrete action, he said.

The Finance Minister and other stakeholders are currently attending COP26 and meetings related to global efforts to mitigate and prevent the impact of climate change in Glasgow, Scotland, from October 31 to November 12, 2021, he informed.

Kacaribu said COP26 is an essential meeting because it is the first summit aimed at evaluating progress achieved since the Paris Agreement was adopted in 2016, where 191 countries must set more ambitious targets for climate change action.

“COP26 is a great hope for many parties, including finance ministers and multilateral financial institutions to accomplish their commitment to reducing emissions,” he added.

One of the important themes of COP26 is the role of climate funding wherein developed nations prepare funding sources to assist developing nations adapt to and mitigate climate change, Kacaribu said.

Indonesia has urged developed nations to show concrete action in providing funding support to developing nations in accordance with several issues discussed under the agenda of COP26 climate funding—long-term financing under which developed nations will mobilize funds to the tune of US$100 billion per year starting 2020, he informed.

He said Indonesia, especially the Finance Ministry, has guided the discussion on this agenda in various rooms while at the same time, taking concrete action to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

“The main priority to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is the forestry sector, energy sector, and transportation sector. These three sectors cover 97 percent of the target of emission reduction under Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Indonesia,” Kacaribu said.

To support the program, Indonesia has conducted carbon pricing through the Presidential Regulation on carbon economic value (NEK), with the main scheme covering carbon trading, fees on carbon, and result-based payment.

Source: Antara News