Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, announced the creation of a green transition task force. (Photo: Airlangga Hartarto's Facebook)
To support energy transition and the green economy, the Indonesian government has officially established a cross-departmental special task force, led by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto. This task force will coordinate discussions with senior government officials and organizations.
Additionally, in response to the United States’ decision to stop funding the JETP energy transition initiative, Airlangga reassured the public after a meeting with other funding members, stating that the JETP program would remain unaffected, and the total amount of aid would stay the same.
Indonesia prioritizes energy transition with new task force
Airlangga signed the decree to formally establish the task force on March 17, with Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, Coordinating Infrastructure and Regional Development Minister, serving as the Deputy head. Key cabinet ministers, including the Minister of State Secretary, Minister of Home Affairs, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Finance, and Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, are part of the task force.
Its main responsibilities include ensuring policy alignment, accelerating business application approvals, and improving coordination between ministries and regions. The nearly full inclusion of cabinet members highlights the Indonesian government’s strong commitment to energy transition.
Fabby Tumiwa, Executive Director of the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR), pointed out that the establishment of this task force demonstrates that the Indonesian government prioritizes energy transition.
He suggested that the task force should serve as a platform for inter-ministerial coordination, focusing on clean energy policy development and reforms, as well as fostering renewable energy investments. This includes strengthening Indonesia’s role in the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) and the Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM).
Read more: U.S. exit from JETP threatens $3 billion green financing for Indonesia, Vietnam
JETP is a multilateral cooperation mechanism aimed at providing public and private sector financing to coal-dependent economies, enabling the early retirement of coal-fired power plants. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
JETP funding secured despite U.S. exit
However, after President Trump took office, the United States withdrew from several international climate organizations and announced that it would no longer fund the JETP partnership. This decision affected Indonesia’s $2 billion funding for coal phase-out and other carbon reduction initiatives. Fortunately, other contributing countries in the program remain unaffected and have expressed their willingness to fill the funding gap left by the U.S. withdrawal.
Airlangga emphasized that despite the U.S. decision to exit the Paris Agreement and JETP, the other nine member countries have upheld their commitments, ensuring that the total aid amount will remain unchanged. However, he did not specify which countries would take on additional funding responsibility.
Germany and Japan are now co-leading the JETP, with other contributors including Denmark, the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, Norway, France, and the European Union.
Read more: Germany steps up to co-lead Indonesia's $20 bln energy transition as US retreats
The Indonesian government highlighted that JETP has already facilitated 54 projects in Indonesia to secure international funding, with a total commitment of $1.1 billion. Of these, 45 projects received grants totaling $233 million, while 9 projects were supported through loans or equity. Additionally, international partners provided a $1 billion guarantee through multilateral development banks to accelerate Indonesia’s energy transition.
According to the JETP framework, Indonesia aims to reduce carbon emissions from its power sector to 250 million tons by 2030, cutting 50 million tons from the previous target. The country also plans to increase the share of renewable energy in its power mix from 12% to 44% by 2030.
As one of the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters, Indonesia aims to independently reduce emissions by 31.89% by 2030, and by 43.2% with international support. However, Airlangga mentioned during the press conference that the country’s target for achieving net-zero emissions will not be later than 2060. This seems to differ significantly from the 2050 net-zero target suggested by President Prabowo Subianto during the G20 summit in Brazil last year.
Source: Indonesia Business Post, Jakarta Post, Antara, Reuters
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