Trillion-Rupiah Carbon Market Must Not Become Mere Certificate Trading Without Real Emission Cuts
The reduction of carbon emissions in Indonesia is being urged to move beyond mere environmental slogans, energy transition ceremonies, or the opening of new administrative commodity spaces through carbon trading. The economic value of carbon, projected to reach thousands of trillions of rupiah, must be aligned with real emission reductions on the ground to avoid creating new spaces for industrial greenwashing.
Dzulfikar Rezky, Chairman of the Sihatihati Sanjaya Center Foundation, stressed that the global climate crisis demands a real structural transformation in how the state and businesses produce energy and control high-emission economic activities. “Carbon emission reduction is not a peripheral issue. It concerns the air we breathe, the energy we use, the cost of living for the public, industrial competitiveness, and the future of the next generation. Therefore, carbon policy must not remain merely technocratic language, but must be felt in real changes on the ground,” Rezky said on Wednesday (1/7/2026).
Rezky assessed that Indonesia’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 31.89 percent through its own efforts and 43.20 percent with international assistance by 2030 must be structurally fair. The burden of emission reduction cannot simply be placed on ordinary citizens through calls to save electricity or limit waste, while large-scale industrial sectors continue without massive transformation.
The critical point of the national decarbonisation agenda currently lies in the structure of the domestic primary energy mix, which is still considered heavily dependent on fossil fuels. Based on data from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, the realisation of the national energy mix still shows a disproportionate dominance of fossil fuels, with coal holding the largest share at 40.37 percent, followed by oil at 28.82 percent, natural gas at 16.17 percent, while the share of New and Renewable Energy has only reached 14.65 percent.
Therefore, compensation schemes must not be used as a shortcut. The electricity sector, marked by the entry of 99 coal-fired power plants with a total capacity of 33.5 GW in the first phase of the power generation sub-sector carbon trading, must be measured by real emission intensity reductions and an increase in the clean energy mix.
Regarding the planned launch of the Carbon Unit Registry System by the Minister of Environment/Head of the Environmental Control Agency, Moh Jumhur Hidayat, on 9 July 2026, Rezky urged that the instrument be constructed as a strict and transparent safeguard. Strengthening this verification prerequisite is crucial, given that future carbon market integration will involve complex multi-sectoral transactions, including forestry, energy, industry, agriculture, and marine sectors.
“The SRUK must become a fence of integrity. All carbon units must be clearly recorded, there must be no double counting, no fictitious claims, and no projects that harm communities or the environment. If the registration system is weak, the carbon market could become a market of illusions: money moves, certificates change hands, but emissions do not actually fall,” Rezky concluded.