Press Release
For Immediate Release
IESR: Uliyasi Simanjuntak
Manajer Komunikasi, uliyasi@iesr.or.id, +62 812-3684-1273
giz Indonesia: Gandabhaskara Saputra
Sr. Communications Advisor CASE for SEA, gandabhaskara.saputra@giz.de, +6281119174387
Planning for Energy Transition Must Involve All Levels of Society
The energy transition paradigm is in the public interest
Jakarta, October 13, 2022 – Comprehensive planning prioritizing the principle of justice needs to be a reference in Indonesia’s energy transition.
Marlistya Citraningrum, Program Manager for Access to Sustainable Energy, Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) said that the energy transition should be discussed in the public sphere considering its impact on everyone's life.
“We have to instil a paradigm that energy transition is in the public interest. Therefore, the decisions taken (whether by the government or not) must be representative and equitable between available options for different community profiles in order to have optimal impact," she explained in Indonesia Sustainable Energy Week (ISEW) 2022, on Thursday (10/13/2022).
Furthermore, Marlistya said that apart from evidence-based policies, empathy and engagement in the decision-making process and the application of the just energy principle - or just energy transition - are also needed.
"We can't just switch to clean energy and let workers in fossil energy sectors feel 'miserable'. Everyone should receive a positive impact from the energy transition and we should minimize any of the negative ones,” she said.
Diversification of economic sectors, upskilling, or re-skilling of workers is part of the just energy transition.
She believes that a comprehensive plan includes strategic and tactical plans that are equipped with operational plans with clear deadlines and, of course, require some monitoring and evaluation.
“Currently, Indonesia’s decision-making is still mostly top-down. We cannot say that is wrong. However, it is hoped that in the context of the energy transition, many decisions will be bottom-up,” she emphasized.
Regarding comprehensive planning, Dr Zulfikar Yurnaidi, AEO7 Project Manager, ASEAN Center for Energy, said, that if you want to improve energy efficiency and diversify energy, you must focus on the whole system, not just power systems.
“We need to make a transition, but don’t forget that we must also be secure, and resilient, as well as move towards sustainability. And, this requires a comprehensive discussion," he said.
Meanwhile, the Coordinator of Electricity, Directorate of Electricity, Telecommunications, and Information of Bappenas Yusuf Suryanto said that “There is currently room for comprehensive and participatory planning, for example in Development Planning Discussions at the regional, district, urban, and national levels. Our hope is that everyone in the community will be able to enter the corridors of each level," said Suryanto.
He explained that synchronization, convergence, or even integration needs to be carried out between various parties to formulate the required ecosystem.
ISEW was held in collaboration with the Indonesia Clean Energy Forum (ICEF), the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR), and Clean, Affordable, Secure Energy for Southeast Asia (CASE). CASE is a cooperation program between two countries: Indonesia - Germany (Directorate of Electricity, Telecommunications and Information Technology, Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas, and funded by the Ministry of Economy and Climate Action of the German Federation Government).