December 2, 2024
JAKARTA – After the United Nations COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan, Indonesia now has a long list of homework which must be completed in order to realize a strong climate commitment as ambitiously outlined by its delegations in Baku through national policies that support both economic and environmental targets.
Some of the highlights from Indonesia during COP29 was the climate pledge outlined by delegation leader Hashim Djojohadikusumo in his addresses in Baku, which included an additional 75 gigawatts (GW) from renewable energy sources in the next 75 years, the push for carbon capture and storage and reforestation of 12.7 million hectares of degraded land.
Such commitments, reiterated by his brother President Prabowo Subianto at the G20 meeting in Brazil, were made amid the backdrop of the President’s pledge to push for 8 percent economic growth in Indonesia over the next several years.
Calling the renewable and economic growth “ambitious, but with a clear 15-year timeline”, researchers at World Resources Institute (WRI) Indonesia urged the government to ensure the growth could be achieved in a manner which shows responsibility toward the environment.
“If we’re going business as usual to achieve the 8 percent growth target with, for example, large-scale industrialization or extractive industry, there’s a potential for larger environmental destruction,” said WRI Indonesia program director Arief Wijaya in a briefing on Tuesday.
“We have to monitor these good and ambitious commitments to make sure they are in line with the commitment to protect the environment.”
Safeguarding downstreaming
The think tank cited nickel downstreaming as an example, a sector that President Prabowo touted as key to pushing for high economic growth for Indonesia. The industry for the commodity has been criticized by researchers and activists alike for causing environmental degradation through deforestation and hazardous chemical pollution, among others.
Nickel mining and processing have also been slammed for unsustainable practices that harm local residents living around the industrial complex.
Read also: Indonesia urged to commit to protecting, restoring nature in COP29
“There should be safeguarding to make sure the downstreaming does not produce emissions from its electricity sources and production process, among other aspects, while also considering economic growth,” WRI Indonesia’s climate manager Egi Suarga said.
He added that measures to cut down emissions and make sure nickel production inflicts minimum damage to the environment would also add value to the commodity by making it more appealing in international markets, which have been prioritizing the sustainability of the extraction process.
The think tank has also been working with the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) to draft up a road map to lessen the environmental impact of the nickel industry, which is expected to be published by early next year.
Missed opportunity
Despite the pledges outlined by Hashim, Indonesia missed the window to present a more ambitious climate target by postponing the submission of its second Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the UN climate change body.
Read also: Indonesia vows to ‘enhance climate actions’, Hashim tells COP29
The document lays out how each country plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions to help limit the global temperature rise by 1.5 degrees to prevent calamitous impacts on humanity. The latest version from Indonesia, dubbed as Enhanced NDC, was submitted in 2022, containing a 31.89 percent unconditional emissions reduction and 43.2 percent cut with international assistance.
The environment and forestry ministries drummed up the drafting for the second NDC to be submitted and announced in Baku. But they postponed the plan and opted to submit it by the February deadline, citing the need to readjust the plans with the Prabowo administration’s economic growth goal.
While regretting the delay for the new NDC, Nadia Hadad of environmental group Madani Berkelanjutan called for a more ambitious emissions reduction pledge for the document to show Indonesia’s seriousness in achieving the targets.
“More importantly, we have to show that we mean business in achieving our NDC,” she said, adding that environmentalists also urged the government to look at the climate justice aspect in the new climate pledge.
But Nadia regretted that Hashim had only highlighted reforestation but not reducing deforestation, which would make efforts for the former futile. Instead, Hashim defended projects criticized for driving forest loss such as food estates as the country’s right to provide food for its people.
“We should look at the environmental capacity before pushing for such ambitions. It’s good to aim for food sufficiency, but the question is how to implement it so that we won’t sacrifice the environment.
Nadia called for the government to translate such ambitions into national policies that would not negate its economic and environmental goals.
Environmentalists concurred that a policy that can be passed to help the achievement of climate targets would be the indigenous peoples bill, as they are known for their contribution in protecting the environment as part of their way of living.
To help achieve the energy goal, the government should have regulations that ease investment on renewable energies to “provide a level playing field against fossil fuels such as subsidies for coal,” said WRI Indonesia researcher Reza Rahmaditio.