Coal must go for climate funds to flow, German ambassador says

Germany says billions of dollars in private climate finance earmarked for Indonesia’s landmark energy transition initiative will not materialise unless Jakarta takes tougher steps to curb its reliance on coal.

“You can’t do it both ways: fight against climate change and still rely on fossil fuels to the extent the country is doing,” German Ambassador to Indonesia Ralf Beste told The Jakarta Post in an interview on Thursday. “But it’s the country’s decision to do that.”

Indonesia’s Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), launched in 2022, was designed to mobilise at least US$20 billion in public and private finance to help the country pass the peak in power-sector emissions by 2030 and accelerate its shift from coal to renewables.

Berlin had assumed a larger coordinating leading role alongside Japan in the JETP after the United States stepped down as co-lead, prompting what the ambassador described as a “reorganisation” of processes and governance to jointly refocus with Jakarta on project delivery as the initiative enters the implementation phase.

Earlier this month, Germany signed a partnership with Indonesia for a 300-million-euro (US$375 million) power grid project in Saguling, West Java, intended to strengthen transmission infrastructure and support renewable energy integration.

It has also committed to funding two additional energy transition projects worth a combined 2 billion euros, according to Indonesia’s Office of the Coordinating Economy Minister.

“We know we need tangible results,” Beste said, describing the project as evidence that implementation is progressing, but “at the same time, five years on, [Indonesia] is still relying very much on coal, and [we understand] it’s not easy to say goodbye to it.”