What seems to be happening is that the Indonesian government has decided it is trapped between the economy and sustainability. Coal is Indonesia’s most abundant and valuable commodity, and coal companies are the country’s biggest taxpayers. Plus, there is the general impression that renewable energy or “cleaner” forms of energy, such as natural gas, cannot be developed fast enough to guarantee that some kind of economic pressure from constrained energy supplies won’t develop.

Energy transition advocates argue that economic stability and the energy transition are not an inevitable dichotomy, but that is a tough sell in Indonesia. The result appears to be that Indonesia has just stopped trying; the government would of course vehemently argue that is not the case, but even China, which is not inclined to listen to anything it doesn’t want to hear, backed off from including “clean coal” in its green taxonomy after widespread criticism. Whether Indonesia will come to its senses and do the same remains to be seen.