Managing the Energy Trilemma: The Case of Indonesia

Abstract

This article argues that a central challenge for energy governance is how to manage a complex ‘energy trilemma’ involving the sometimes competing demands of energy security, climate change mitigation and (particularly in developing countries) energy poverty. How the trilemma plays out, it is suggested, will have important implications for the success (or otherwise) of various climate change mitigation initiatives. Moreover, understanding the tensions between these different horns of the trilemma and the trade offs that will be necessary to manage them will facilitate the identification of credible governance strategies through which to achieve a transition to a low carbon economy at both national and global levels.