As the world’s largest coal exporter, Indonesia will play a key role in reducing global emissions, but it needs help to do it. Transitioning away from coal will require billions of dollars in investment that Indonesia doesn’t have.
as well as a political upheaval. Coal money currently funds local and national budgets, and coal-powered development plans are what put President Joko Widodo, in addition to many other Indonesian politicians, into office. Transitioning Indonesia away from coal, however, is an essential piece of any plan which would enable the world to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
Indonesian leaders have been warming up to the idea of transitioning away from coal, and have drafted a “,” which includes plans to retrofit 75% of domestic coal plants with carbon capture, utilization and storage technology. Not only will this be necessary for the health of the planet, it will also be a big win for the Indonesian economy. Afrom TransitionZero shows that retiring Indonesia’s coal plants would present massive economic, social and environmental benefits.
This strategy would also help Indonesia avoid the very real and very expensive externalities of continued coal production going forward. When the impacts of coal plants on air pollution, water stress, local resources, and climate change are taken into account, “the true cost of coal power plants in Indonesia is $67 per megawatt-hour, 27% more than the new cost of clean energy alternatives,” Mongabay reports.