Transparency in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the coal sector has become increasingly important as Indonesia strives to reduce emissions and achieve its net-zero target by 2060. On the one hand, the energy sector—particularly coal—remains a major pillar of the national energy system and a significant source of state revenue. On the other hand, it is also one of the largest contributors to GHG emissions.
As one of the world’s leading coal producers, Indonesia faces a dilemma between economic interests and its responsibility to address the climate crisis. Rising coal production not only generates carbon dioxide emissions but also methane, which has a far greater global warming potential. Without sufficient transparency in emissions data, it is difficult to assess the extent to which this sector truly contributes to national emission reduction efforts.
Limited Access to Emissions Data
A key challenge today is the limited public access to emissions data from coal companies. The government has introduced several reporting mechanisms, including Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV), the National Registry System for Climate Change Control, GHG Emission Reduction Certification, and APPLE-GATRIK, a web-based platform for calculating and reporting emissions from power generation units to the Directorate General of Electricity under the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.
However, in practice, these mechanisms are not fully accessible to the public, and some can only be accessed through restricted registration. This situation makes independent monitoring of companies’ environmental performance difficult, even though transparency is a fundamental element in ensuring accountability in natural resource governance, particularly in sectors with significant environmental and social impacts.
Global Transparency Standards
Transparency is becoming even more crucial as global expectations for stricter emissions reporting continue to grow. The 2023 Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Standard has begun to encourage more comprehensive disclosure of GHG emissions in the extractive sector.
The existence of ISO standards for emissions reporting demonstrates that companies can no longer claim a lack of guidance in measuring and reporting GHG emissions. Relevant standards include ISO 14064-1:2018 for organizational-level quantification and reporting, and ISO 14064-1:2019 for project-level quantification and reporting. These standards provide a clear framework, ranging from emission calculation methods to principles of transparency and conservativeness to prevent underreporting.
This means that the main issue is no longer the absence of standards, but whether they are implemented seriously or merely treated as administrative requirements. Principles such as relevance, completeness, consistency, accuracy, and transparency are important in theory. However, in practice, they do not automatically ensure that emissions data is open and easily understood by the public.
Companies may claim compliance with international standards, but if the data, methodologies, and reporting scope are not clearly disclosed, the public cannot determine whether the reports accurately reflect real conditions. This is the core of the problem. International standards like ISO should not only serve to enhance corporate image as environmentally compliant entities, but also function as tools to strengthen accountability.
These standards emphasize not only direct emissions from operational activities but also encourage transparency regarding other emission sources associated with extractive industry activities. With such frameworks, companies are expected to present emissions data that is more consistent, measurable, and comparable.
Transparency as the Basis for Public Oversight
Transparency in emissions data should serve as the primary basis for assessing whether companies in the extractive sector are truly accountable for their environmental impacts. Without clear and open information on emission sources, volumes, and calculation methods, the public, researchers, civil society organizations, and policymakers lack sufficient grounds to objectively evaluate environmental performance. As a result, emissions reporting risks becoming a mere administrative formality.
As long as emissions data is reported only to the government and not made publicly accessible, true transparency has not been achieved. Genuine transparency is not merely about submitting reports, but also about ensuring that the information can be accessed, understood, and verified by the public. Without this, reporting standards risk becoming symbolic, while the public remains unable to assess whether companies are genuinely reducing emissions or simply projecting an environmentally responsible image.
Emissions data is a crucial instrument for public oversight of the climate impacts of mining and energy activities. With transparent data, society can better evaluate whether corporate environmental commitments are genuinely implemented or merely presented in sustainability reports that may not reflect on-the-ground conditions.
Advancing the EITI Standard as a Practical Instrument for Emissions Transparency
Therefore, the use of Requirement 3.4 in annual or sustainability reports of coal companies should be encouraged, even though regulations mandating full public disclosure are not yet fully established. This step can serve as an initial effort to promote more systematic emissions reporting and to prevent emissions issues from being treated merely as supplementary elements in sustainability narratives.
Discussions on the benefits of implementing this standard should also be expanded. Collaborative studies involving government, academia, civil society, and the private sector are essential—not only to enrich the discourse but also to ensure that emissions reporting provides meaningful value for national interests. Emissions transparency should be understood as a foundation for strengthening governance, enhancing public trust, and helping Indonesia navigate the challenges of the energy transition more effectively.
If the government aims to ensure consistent emissions reporting, a stronger, more binding regulatory framework is needed—at a minimum, by adopting Requirement 3.4 of the 2023 EITI Standard as a reference point. Given that the coal sector is one of the largest contributors to emissions, regulatory clarity is essential to ensure that data is not partial or inconsistent, and can be used to monitor the implementation of climate commitments.
In the end, optimizing the use of the EITI Standard should be seen not only as an effort to improve reporting quality but also as an opportunity to strengthen accountability in the coal sector. Without such measures, climate commitments risk remaining limited to targets and statements, unsupported by sufficiently transparent data for public scrutiny.
Writer: Michelle Gwyneth
Reviewer: Mouna Wasef