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We can't jump from fossil fuels to renewables, Pertamina says
Pertamina CEO Nicke Widyawati also proposed widening the scope of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) to include decarbonization initiatives on the way to cleaner power supply.
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Pertamina CEO Nicke Widyawati (left) and director of finance Emma Sri Martini attend a media briefing on June 6, 2023. (Pertamina/-)
P
ertamina CEO Nicke Widyawati has used a global conference in Jakarta to temper expectations about the speed of the transition toward cleaner energy supply.
While having the same objective in tackling climate problems, countries around the world were at different starting points based on their economic development and social challenges, so there should be different pathways for the energy transition, Nicke told the audience at the ASEAN Indo Pacific Forum (AIPF) on Wednesday.
"For Indonesia, we are a developing country and have ambitious targets to increase our gross domestic product (GDP) as well as maintain stable economic growth and inflation rates, so we need energy as a catalyst for our growth," the head of Indonesia’s state-owned oil and gas company said.
Because of that, she added, the country could not jump directly from fossil-fuel-based energy to renewable energy. Instead, Indonesia needed an energy transition process that was just, affordable and orderly.
"If I can propose something to the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), the transition [should] not only relate to renewable energy [...] The scope of the agreement should also include decarbonization initiatives," Nicke said.
Furthermore, the executive said a direct move to renewable energy meant that unemployment in Indonesia, a country of some 280 million people, would skyrocket. That would contradict the [idea of] inclusivity of the energy transition process by not leaving anyone behind.
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