"I have spoken with Minister Ignasius Jonan on the efforts to reduce the amount of coal used in Indonesia," Minister Bakar remarked here on Wednesday.
However, taking into account Indonesia's growing economy, she admitted that the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources had yet to commit to realizing complete elimination of coal energy use.
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Coal energy use is one of the challenges facing the global community in addressing the impact of climate change.
"The international community is currently working hard and paying more attention to reducing the use of certain forms of energy, such as coal," she remarked.
Almost all countries worldwide have agreed to lower 80 percent of the coal energy use, while some nations have also committed to totally eliminating the use of coal in a bid to fight climate change until 2050.
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The issue of climate change has been one of international concern since the 1950s. However, efforts made to deal with climate change during that time were more focused on deforestation and not yet on lowering the use of fossil energy sources.
Minister Bakar admitted that in Indonesia, the problems of deforestation and air pollution arising from vehicles and factories had hindered efforts to tackle climate change.
Nonetheless, the government claimed to have endeavored to lower the impacts of climate change, including by handling forest and land fires as well as by maintaining peatlands.
Furthermore, the government has prioritized mangrove planting to fight climate change in accordance with the commitment in the Paris Agreement. EDITED BY INE
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Translator: Muhammad Zulfikar, Yuni Arisan
Editor: Azizah Fitriyanti
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