The Urgency of Openness of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emission Data for Climate Change Impacts

Jakarta – Every September 28 is commemorated as International Right to Know Day (IRTKD). This commemoration aims to support citizens’ rights to access public information. The guarantee of citizens’ rights to public information is expected to strengthen government accountability and encourage public involvement in every policy formulation and implementation in various sectors while creating a healthy and robust democracy.

In this IRTKD momentum, the Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Indonesia coalition urges the Government and Companies to open Green House Gas (GHG) emission data, especially for the energy and natural resource sectors. Transparency of emission data for the energy and natural resources sector can be a progressive step in facing the challenges of climate change impacts.

Transparency of emission data in this sector is urgent, considering that energy and natural resources are the most significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. The International Energy Agency (IEA) said that emissions from carbon dioxide (CO2) caused by energy combustion and global industrial activities in 2022 increased by 0.5 gigatons compared to 2021 while becoming a new record high in history.

In the Indonesian context, the energy sector is one of Indonesia’s most significant contributors to emissions after forestry and land use. The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) in the Indonesian Energy Flow and Greenhouse Gas Emission Balance states that the electricity and gas procurement subsector is the most significant contributor to CO2 emissions in Indonesia during the 2017-2021 period, with more than 50% of the total CO2 emissions of all business fields each year.

The transparency of this emission data is also very urgent to show the government’s commitment to reducing emissions as targeted in the Updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) document, where Indonesia has set a target of reducing its emissions by 2030 by 31.89% (own efforts) and 43.20% (with international support compared to the previous policy (Updated NDC, 2021) – 29% (own actions and 43.20% (with the international backing).

The transparency of emission data is also urgent to show the government’s commitment to reducing emissions as targeted in the Updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) document, where Indonesia has set a target of reducing its emissions in 2030 by 31.89% (own efforts) and 43.20% (with international support compared to the previous policy (Updated NDC, 2021) – 29% (own actions and 43.20% (with the international backing).

However, the transparency commitment related to this emission data is still a big question. It can be seen from the reluctance of the State Electricity Company (PT. PLN) and the Government to disclose data on emissions data generated by the Suralaya Steam Power Plant (PLTU) in Cilegon, Banten, and the Ombilin PLTU in Padang, West Sumatra. This was revealed in a public information disclosure hearing with dispute number 009/II/KIP-PSI/2023 filed by Margaretha Quina against PLN (Kompas, September 14, 2023). PLN and the government still consider emissions data confidential and cannot be disclosed publicly.

It is unfortunate considering that Indonesia has been one of the implementing countries of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiatives (EITI) since 2010 based on Presidential Regulation (Perpres) Number 26 of 2010 concerning Transparency of State and Regional Revenues Obtained from the Extractive Industry, which was revised through Perpres Number 82 of 2020. Implementing EITI on the 2023 International EITI Standard, an EITI multi-stakeholder agreement at the international level. The standard (Requirement 3,4) states that EITI implementing countries (along with extractive companies) must disclose their greenhouse gas emission data.

Emission data transparency is also an issue that continues to be encouraged and mainstreamed in many Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standard initiatives. It is unfortunate if the Government, State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), and companies still consider emissions data as closed data.

Contact person:
Aryanto Nugroho, PWYP Indonesia National Coordinator
aryanto@pwypindonesia