[Roundtable] Political Ecology of Energy Transition

2023 AIFIS-MSU Conference on Indonesian Studies - Parallel Session 3

Session Date/Time: Wed Jul 12, 2023, 9:40 PM - 11:10 PM ET

This roundtable discussion brings together academics, public intellectuals, and activists working on the issue of the political ecology of the energy transition in Indonesia. We broadly define the political ecology of energy transition as the ways in which political, economic and cultural aspects play roles in the shift from non-renewable to renewable sources of energy. We are concerned about the concentration of power and the way energy transition benefits specific actors while marginalising social and ecological systems. As mentioned by various scholars, in post-authoritarian Indonesia, like in other developed and developing countries, there are large players, comprising actors within the government and corporations, who have benefited from more centralised control of energy production. As such, we also reflect on who invests in, how and how much is being put into developing the renewable energy infrastructure; which inevitably disrupts traditional and indigenous land use in the archipelago. We are concerned about safeguarding the livelihoods of local communities where such infrastructures are planned to be, or already being, developed. Thus, we would also like to highlight, if any, cases in which the role of communities in governing renewable energy projects (e.g. community-owned solar cooperatives), which has the potential to provide not only more sustainable sources of energy but just socio-economic shift where power is held by those most impacted by the energy transition.

Keywords: energy transition; political ecology; climate justice

Discussants:

• Nur Rafiza Putri, Universitas Indonesia
• Julius Christian, Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR)
• Shofwan Al Banna Choiruzzad, Universitas Indonesia
• Rini Astuti, Asia Research Center UI and CPAS - ANU
• Suraya Afiff, Universitas Indonesia
• Inaya Rakhmani, Universitas Indonesia
• Sholahudin Al Ayubi, Yayasan Indonesia Cerah (CERAH)