Bali, Indonesia – Greenpeace Indonesia activists have projected a message of ‘Just Energy Transition NOW’ on a cliff face at the popular Melasti Beach in South Bali, ahead of the G20 summit, to urge leaders to step up on their climate change commitments.
The G20 Summit is expected to discuss three main pillars, one of which is about energy transition. Indonesia, as the G20 host, is being urged to agree and accelerate on ways to finance its energy transition, in which the priority is for the early retirement of coal-fired power plants.
“The energy transition is something inevitable, and countries will eventually shift in that direction, including Indonesia. However, it is essential to underline that action must be taken immediately, considering the significant impacts of the climate crisis on the environment and humanity. The G20 holds such responsibility,” said Tata Mustasya, Head of Climate Campaign for Greenpeace Southeast Asia.
Indonesia’s electricity procurement plan, known as the RUPTL, states that the country will continue using coal until 2056, in parallel with the phase out process. Meanwhile, the construction of 13.8 GW of coal-fired power plants will keep going. Such policies are contrary to the country’s commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as written in the submitted Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) document.
At Glasgow’s COP26 in 2021, along with the signing of the Global Coal to Clean Power Transition Statement, the Indonesian government pledged to decommission its 9.2 GW coal-fired power plants and replace its 3.7 GW energy loss with renewable power plants. It is crucial to ensure that Indonesia and other G20 leaders will not adopt bogus solutions that could hinder energy transitions, such as co-firing and clean coal technology. G20 countries, which control about 80 percent of the world’s economy, are responsible for 80 percent of global emissions.
“The climate crisis is here, wrecking lives, livelihoods, communities and cultures around the planet. Time is not on our side. Leaders must take a bold step before we end up in a permanent climate disaster. G20 leaders must ensure that climate justice principles are adopted into a quick and just energy transition scheme that will completely cease fossil fuel use,” said Yeb Sano, Executive Director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia and Greenpeace’s Head of Delegation for COP27.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world must take at least 80% of coal-fired power plants offline by 2030 and completely abandon coal in 2040 to avoid the pitfalls of the climate crisis.
ENDS
Photos and videos of Greenpeace Indonesia’s message projection available here in the Greenpeace Media Library.
Contact:
Greenpeace International Press Desk: [email protected], +31 (0) 20 718 2470 (available 24 hours)
