Indonesia says G20 meeting fails to agree communique on adopting cleaner energy

By Fransiska Nangoy and Bernadette Christina

JAKARTA (Reuters) – A meeting of the Group of 20 major economies failed on Friday to produce a formal communique after talks on energy transition, but chair Indonesia said members had backed a non-binding proposal to speed up adoption of cleaner energy.

Indonesia, one of the world’s biggest carbon emitters, had asked G20 countries to support measures to help deliver on commitments to reach net zero emissions, its energy minister told counterparts in Bali.

G20 climate talks earlier this week had also been unable to agree on a joint communique and Britain’s climate delegate Alok Sharma told Reuters some of the world’s leading economies were backsliding on emissions commitments.

The energy transition ministerial meeting on Friday had not agreed on a communique “because there were differences among countries”, energy minister Arifin Tasrif told reporters.

He said, however, Indonesia’s non-binding proposal called the Bali Compact was endorsed by G20 members and would be brought to the leaders’ summit in November.

Indonesia, a major exporter and user of coal, has joined a global pledge to phase out coal use and wants nearly a quarter of its energy to come from renewable sources by 2025, up from about 12% currently.

“What is important now is that we work together to coordinate policies, to strengthen cooperation and make sure our energy transition agenda moves forward,” Arifin said at the opening of the meeting in Bali.

Underlining challenges ahead, the International Energy Agency in a report on Friday said Indonesia needed to ensure policy reforms take place so it can make the shift to cleaner energy faster, noting the technology was already commercially available and cost-effective.

The Bali Compact, details of which were not immediately available, aimed to strengthen national energy planning and implementation, boost investment and financing and improve energy security, Arifin said.

Chair Indonesia also did not release a joint communique after G20 climate talks earlier this week, with efforts derailed by what sources said were objections over language used on climate targets and the war in Ukraine.

(Reporting by Fransiska Nangoy, Bernadette Christina Munthe; Editing by Martin Petty, Ed Davies)