Indonesian Government Develops Green Economy
By : Dhita Karuniawati )*
Indonesia is accelerating the achievement of the Golden Indonesia Vision 2045, which is the direction of national economic development, with the aspiration of becoming a high-income country. In order to achieve this vision, three economic engines are driven together and continuously, namely revitalizing conventional engines, building new economic engines, and perfecting the Pancasila economic engine.
In the new economic engine, there is a focus on accelerating future growth which includes implementing digital applications, developing the semiconductor industry, as well as developing the green economy and renewable energy. The green economy is one of Indonesia’s economic transformation strategies set by Bappenas to achieve the vision of Indonesia 2045. This strategy is considered a game changer for Indonesia in economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic and towards sustainable development. The government continues to be committed to developing the green economy.
The Green Growth Program supports Indonesia in realizing green economic growth that can reduce poverty and ensure social inclusion, environmental sustainability and resource efficiency. It is important to apply the principles, concepts and approaches to green economic growth in Indonesia to help this country realize these ambitious goals.
President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) emphasized that the Indonesian government will continue to make efforts in the world’s movement towards a green economy. This choice is not solely because Indonesia wants to join in developing a green economy like other countries, but because Indonesia has great strength in this field.
Indonesia has almost all types of green energy, starting from geothermal energy, solar energy, water energy, wind energy and wave energy. Indonesia is also rich in garden products which can be processed into fuel such as biodiesel, bioethanol and bioavtur.
President Jokowi believes that the power of green energy will invite green industry, finance the green economy, produce green food, and open up opportunities for green jobs (environmentally friendly oriented jobs) that can be prosperous and sustainable. Jokowi emphasized that efforts in the field of energy transition must continue in stages. Indonesia must be able to accelerate the energy transition process towards green energy.President Jokowi emphasized that Pertamina and PLN must also play an active role in efforts to penetrate the green economy, in order to increase added value domestically, improve the welfare of the people, and which is in line with the values of Pancasila.
The Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs initiated the formation of a new economic machine through the development of a semiconductor ecosystem. In an effort to make this happen, the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto has formed the Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC) Task Force and the Semiconductor Ecosystem Preparation Task Force. Coordinating Minister Airlangga hopes that the development of the green economy and semiconductors can run in parallel. The Indonesian government is also ready to provide incentives to attract investors and other economic cooperation to accelerate the development of these two industries which will provide great benefits for Indonesia’s economic growth.
Support for the green economy program also comes from various levels of society. One of them is the Secretary General of the National Mandate Party (PAN), Eddy Soeparno. He said that through the energy transition process we will develop Indonesia’s abundant renewable energy potential, reaching 3,500 GW, such as solar, geothermal, wind and hydro energy. Apart from that, Indonesia’s bioenergy potential is also very large, around 57GW.
Eddy also said that when Indonesia is committed to developing various renewable energy opportunities, the green economy will automatically move. This is because developing domestic energy sources will create new industries and manufacturing, absorb labor and utilize domestic industrial production. Not to mention when we run the downstream program of plants into energy, such as biofuel, biodiesel and bio-avtur. Apart from producing more environmentally friendly fuel, we will also reduce dependence on fuel imports which have been eroding the state budget.
Eddy added that so far PAN has been actively involved in providing ideas and policy input for the preparation of the Prabowo-Gibran Energy Transition Program. PAN will fully support the incoming government to accelerate the energy transition process in order to create clean energy and unlock the various green economic potential contained therein.
It is hoped that the green economy will not only improve the quality of life of the Indonesian people but can also be an inspiration to continue adopting this concept in realizing smart, efficient and sustainable infrastructure development towards a Golden Indonesia 2045. Therefore, the Indonesian people must be optimistic in supporting the realization of the program green economy so that it can run according to planned targets.
)* The author is a contributor to the Indonesian Institute for Strategic Information Studies
