Accelerating the Economic Recovery in Indonesia Post Covid-19: Justice in the Energy Transition

Abstract

Indonesia is known as the largest economy in South East Asia and as one of the emerging lower-middle-income countries. Before the pandemic Covid-19, Indonesia forecasted its GDP growth to increase to 5.5% in 2020. However, this never happened following the pandemic it decreased to 2.97% in the first quarter of 2020. This paper focuses on the renewable energy role in accelerating the economic recovery in Indonesia by emphasising the role of justice in the transition process. We conduct systematic reviews from different sources, both primary and secondary resources. We qualitatively analyse the energy regulation and energy road map in Indonesia as well as some academic research articles. Indonesia has developed its general energy plan related to the energy mix demand and supply, which includes a long-term plan on developing renewable energy sources and reducing the use of fossil fuels. As the fourth most populated country in the world, Indonesia still focusses on cheap energy supply and energy access to fulfil the energy demand. Therefore the transition process in Indonesia is considered slow compared to the OECD countries. There is a significant role of energy in economic growth, both energy consumption and energy resources. Until now, fossil fuels have dominated the Indonesian energy supply and demand. This paper highlights the role of renewable energy in the economic development of the country. This paper suggests that the pandemic has highlighted the energy transition movement in Indonesia. The Covid-19 has driven more research on the role of renewable energy project to the economic development and demonstrate that a transition to a low-carbon economy could contribute to the economic recovery in a justice way in many sectors. Renewable energy development contributes directly to human resources development, and this development also contribute to health sector improvement. Finally, this renewable energy development could accelerate the economic recovery in Indonesia and reach 5.2 to 5.6% in 2021.