Dear EB reader,

Last week I attended a friend's wedding in East Java. The bride's brother, Megi, proudly told me about his new job working in logistics at a coal mine in Kalimantan. As Indonesia works through a plan to wean itself off the fossil fuel, it occurred to me that, sooner or later, Megi might find himself out of a job. A quarter of a million Indonesians depend directly on coal to make a living. Indonesia is the world's largest exporter of coal, which accounts for 6 per cent of GDP.

But if Indonesia is to achieve its 2060 net-zero target, and Jakarta is to lose its newly-minted crown as the world's most polluted city, the country must find a way to shift away from coal – and in a way that doesn't marginalise people like Megi. Reviving the US$20 billion Just Energy Transition Partnership deal, now hampered by disagreements over funding and technical challenges (emissions from captive coal plants in the pipeline haven't been included in the calculation) is essential. So is finding a way to make clean energy projects financially sound.

JETP on ice

Indonesia has postponed the launch of its much-awaited Just Energy Transition Partnership investment plan until later this year. The US$20 billion deal, meant to mobilise finance from wealthy nations to accelerate the country's move from coal to clean energy, has been complicated by the large number of captive coal plants that are slated to be built over the coming years.

Jakarta ranked world's most polluted city

Indonesian capital Jakarta's air quality was the world's worst for several days in August, according to data from IQAir. While smog from its coal-fired power plants have been identified as one of the key sources of air pollution, measures, such as the recent introduction of remote work and study arrangements ahead of the Asean summit, have focused on addressing vehicle emissions.

Indonesia woos foreign EV investors

In a bid to become Southeast Asia's leading electric vehicle producer, Indonesia's finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati announced that EV manufacturers setting up in the country will be offered generous tax incentives.