Indonesia Asks Developed Countries to Fund Energy Transition

Jakarta. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Thursday’s global economic forum asked developed nations to help their developing counterparts, including Indonesia, in the energy transition by providing funds and technology transfer.

According to Jokowi, Indonesia had already reaffirmed its commitment to energy transition at Glasgow's Cop26 summit. But moving away from fossil fuels to renewable energy requires substantial funding and access to green technologies.

“For developing countries like Indonesia, [energy transition] must be backed by technology, as well as financing. So it will not be too burdensome to the people, state budget, industries,” Jokowi told the World Economic Forum (WEF) virtually on Thursday.

Jokowi revealed Indonesia needed a whopping $50 billion to switch to renewable energy. And a further $37 billion for the sectors of forestry, land use, as well as marine carbon.  

“Indonesia and other developing countries request the contribution of developed countries for funding and transfer of technology. Sources of funding and technology transfer will be a game-changer,” Jokowi said while calling for an innovative financing scheme.

He added, "many developing countries have raised this kind of question."

Concrete outcomes in energy transition can only be achieved through robust cooperation.

According to Jokowi, the government needs to pursue cooperation both domestically and globally.

On domestic cooperation, the Indonesian government has teamed up with state-owned energy enterprises and the private sector to design a just and affordable energy transition. At the international level, Indonesia is working with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on an energy transition mechanism.

Jokowi's remarks were a response to WEF executive chairman Klaus Schwab’s question on Indonesia’s plans to speed up its energy transition, given the country’s heavy reliance on coal-fired power generation.

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