Davos, Swiss (ANTARA) - Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto outlined concrete steps taken by Indonesia to achieve a fair and affordable energy transition at the 2022 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting (WEFAM) in Davos, Switzerland.

"Indonesia is committed to reducing fossil fuel utilization gradually for the sake of climate security in the future," he said in his statement in Davos on Wednesday.

This commitment is being realized through various concrete and innovative steps, he informed.

Examples of such steps include the SDG Indonesia One platform that has collected US$3.2 billion in funds in less than four years, the issuance of Green Sukuk (Islamic bonds), and the carbon pricing mechanism plan for energy transition.

Moreover, Indonesia also has launched the Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM) program with Asian Development Bank and jointly reduced CO2 emissions by 200 million tons per year with the Philippines and Vietnam, the minister said.

Indonesia has also joined the initiative to phase out coal, he noted.

This generation's important task is to pass down a planet worth living to the next generation, he remarked.

To achieve this, a transformation of people's lifestyles is needed, especially in the energy sector, which accounts for 72 percent of total global emissions.

"To handle this dilemma, we have to create better and more eco-friendly jobs as well as invest in workers' training and reskilling," Hartarto said.

"Only then this energy transition can be called fair," he added.

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A fair and affordable energy transition to the green economy can generate up to US$26 trillion in net benefits and 65 million high-value jobs by 2030. However, large funds are necessary to reach that stage.

For instance, around US$25 billion is needed to phase out 5.5 GW of coal-fired power plants in Indonesia gradually, or equivalent to one-quarter of the annual climate funding that developed countries have promised developing countries.

In response to this, the minister underlined the importance of developed countries fulfilling their commitment to providing funding to support global energy transition every year.

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Translator: Kuntum Khaira R, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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