Jakarta – Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Indonesia, in collaboration with Ember Climate and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiatives (EITI) Secretariat Indonesia, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), organized a webinar titled “Understanding Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Indonesia’s Extractive Industry Sector” on July 31, 2024. The webinar aimed to provide a deeper understanding of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Indonesia’s extractive industry sector and discuss the transparency of GHG emission data within the framework of public information disclosure in Indonesia. Understanding emissions from the extractive sector is necessary to adopt more sustainable practices. Additionally, industry players in this sector can determine appropriate strategies to reduce GHG emissions, such as improving energy efficiency, utilizing green technologies, and better waste management.

The webinar featured Mouna Wasef, Head of Research and Advocacy at PWYP Indonesia and alternate Civil Society Representative in the EITI Indonesia Multi-Stakeholders Group (MSG), Dody Kurniawan, Senior Analyst on Climate and Energy at Ember Climate, and Nurhadi from the Energy and Mineral Resources Research and Development Agency, Ministry of ESDM.

Mouna Wasef stated that Indonesia has signed the Paris Agreement and committed to reducing GHG emissions by 29% through its own efforts and by 41% with international support by 2030. Simultaneously, as one of the implementing countries of EITI, extractive companies in Indonesia are also encouraged to report their GHG emissions, as per the 2023 EITI Standard (3.4). This GHG emissions reporting is necessary to enhance transparency and accountability of the companies and the extractive industry sector as a whole.

“Transparency of GHG emission data is very important considering the extractive industry has both direct and indirect emissions. Data transparency can also support Indonesia’s accountability regarding its climate commitments,” she said.

Mouna added that although currently the disclosure of GHG emissions by extractive companies under EITI is still recommended, it is not impossible that the same standards will become mandatory reporting in the future. Therefore, systematic efforts are needed to accelerate the recording of GHG emissions data in the extractive sector.

“Not only to meet EITI standards, but also as a commitment to achieving net zero emission,” she explained.

Dody Kurniawan presented the latest study from Ember Climate, which found that six out of the ten largest coal companies in Indonesia have not reported methane gas emissions, which are a major contributor to emissions in the coal mining sector.

“Among all greenhouse gases released from the coal supply chain, coal mine methane is considered the primary emission because it has a warming effect 30 times greater than carbon dioxide,” he explained.

Additionally, it was revealed that out of 909 coal concessions in Indonesia, ten coal companies control half of the coal production in Indonesia.

On one hand, Indonesia has several regulations mandating the government and business actors to record methane emission inventories in coal mines. Indonesia has agreed to global agreements on methane and needs to report to the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) and undertake biennial mitigation actions. Listed coal mining companies must prepare sustainability reports that include emissions. Minister of ESDM Regulation No. 22 of 2019 on Greenhouse Gas Inventory also regulates emission reporting.

Nurhadi presented a study titled Calculation of GHG Emissions from Mineral and Coal Mining Activities using methods based on the 2006 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines and 2019 IPCC Refinement, which divides the calculation methods based on accuracy levels: Tier-1 uses global emission factors, Tier-2 uses country or plant-specific data, and Tier-3 uses more accurate direct measurement methods.

The analysis revealed that three types of companies with different production capacities show significant emission variations. Company A (high production) produced total emissions of 2,005,443 tons of CO2eq, while Company B (medium production) had emissions of 346,017 tons of CO2eq. Company C (low production) emitted only 1,343 tons of CO2eq. The estimated total greenhouse gas emissions from the national coal mining sector, calculated based on coal production history from 2016 to 2022, reached 34,133 Gg CO2eq in 2022.

“Currently, the Ministry of ESDM, through the Directorate General of Minerals and Coal, is conducting a study to develop guidelines for greenhouse gas emission inventory in the mineral and coal mining subsector. The expectation is that all business entities in this subsector will be required to report emission inventories according to the guidelines being developed. The obtained inventory data will be integrated into the Minerba One Data Indonesia (MoDI) database in the future,” he concluded.

Author: Muhammad Adzkia Farirahman
Reviewer: Aryanto Nugroho