"Indonesia's Finance Minister, Top Coal Exporter, Says Coal Power Will End by 2040 with International Support"

Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Indonesian Minister of Finance
Photo by AP Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Indonesia's Minister of Finance and the world's largest coal exporter, said that if sufficient support from the international community is provided, coal-fired power generation could be phased out by 2040.

Minister Indrawati made these remarks in an interview with a foreign media outlet during the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) held in Glasgow, Scotland.

Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world and ranks eighth in greenhouse gas emissions. Sixty-five percent of its electricity is generated from coal power.

Previously, Indonesia announced its goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 at the latest and to gradually phase out coal power generation by 2056.

Indonesia is expected to announce a new carbon neutrality plan at COP26 on the 3rd, which may include a plan to end coal-fired power generation.

According to Boris Johnson, the COP26 president and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Joko Widodo, President of Indonesia, expressed a desire to advance the coal power phase-out date to 2040. This means Indonesia might announce the existing 2056 coal power phase-out plan on the 3rd.

Regarding this, Minister Indrawati said that the possibility of an early coal power phase-out depends on financial support from the international community, the private sector, and developed countries. She noted that if coal power is phased out early, eco-friendly power generation to replace coal power is necessary, which inevitably incurs higher costs.

In its previously announced plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, Indonesia estimated that it would need to invest $150 billion to $200 billion annually in low-carbon sectors by 2030.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.