A Just Transition for Nature, Climate, and People: Indonesia Must Have the Courage to Chart Its Path
Jakarta, 16 October 2025 — The transition toward a low-carbon economy stands as one of Indonesia’s greatest tests amid global political change and the ongoing climate crisis. This was the key message from Stories to Watch 2025 & Beyond, hosted by WRI Indonesia today under the theme “Getting Transition Right for People, Nature, and Climate.”
This year, Stories to Watch highlights the critical crossroads Indonesia faces as it enters a new era of sustainable development with a new government, a shifting economic direction, and growing pressure to meet the Paris Agreement target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C. Indonesia must ensure that its transition advances people, nature, and climate together.
Nirarta Samadhi, Country Director of WRI Indonesia, emphasized, “Transition is no longer a choice, but a necessity. The challenge is not just how fast we move, but how we ensure that its benefits are felt broadly, involving all stakeholders, including vulnerable groups, and that it remains fair to both nature and the climate.”
WRI Indonesia invited the public to take a closer look at three interconnected systems shaping Indonesia’s future: food, land, and water; climate-resilient cities; and energy and industry. These are not just development sectors, but the very foundations of the country’s national transition pathway.
The food, land, and water sector contributes roughly 25% of Indonesia’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Yet it is also a lifeline for millions of Indonesians and the backbone of national food security, making it one of the government’s key priorities.
WRI Indonesia continues to advance collaboration to transform this sector. In food systems, it promotes eco-regionalization, an approach that tailors food-system transformation to local ecological and social contexts.
In land management, WRI Indonesia develops and scales technologies that enhance protection and productivity to support community livelihoods sustainably. In the water sector, it works with government and partners toward national water self-sufficiency. Crucially, all these efforts must remain community-centered, protecting nature while improving local welfare.
In the cities sector, rapid urbanization will see more than 70% of Indonesia’s population living in cities by 2045. This brings challenges from air pollution and inadequate housing to dependence on fossil-fueled transport. Through multiple initiatives, WRI Indonesia supports both government and citizens in building inclusive, resilient, and low-carbon cities, including strengthening transport emission inventories, integrating multi-modal systems, and developing financing mechanisms for electric vehicle (EV) transition. WRI Indonesia, together with local governments and private partners, promotes the adoption of electric mobility spanning personal, public, and heavy transport across Jakarta, Bali, Surabaya, and Makassar to decarbonize the urban transport system.
At the same time, it advocates for improved housing quality and protection of green open spaces, vital for clean air and environmental resilience, ensuring cities become healthy, equitable, and sustainable places for all.
The energy and industrial sectors remain the engines of national productivity, investment, and job creation, contributing 18.9% of Indonesia’s GDP and employing 19.3 million workers. Yet they also pose a major challenge to emission reduction: as of 2023, the energy sector contributed 752 million tons of CO₂e (55% of total emissions), largely from coal, oil, and gas use, while the manufacturing industry contributed about 34% due to continued fossil fuel dependence.
In response, WRI Indonesia partners with government and industry to strengthen science-based policy foundations and accelerate industrial decarbonization, including the development of the Industrial Decarbonization Roadmap and Nickel Decarbonization Roadmap, alongside innovations in climate finance and affordable clean energy technologies. These efforts align with the National Electricity Plan (RUPTL) target, which aims for 76% of additional power capacity to come from renewables. With such an enabling ecosystem, Indonesia holds great potential to become a leading green manufacturing hub in Southeast Asia.
Yenny Wahid, Member of the Board of Trustees of WRI Indonesia and Director of the Wahid Foundation, underscored the importance of leadership in guiding this transition: “Public policies made by our leaders will shape our low-carbon future. True climate leadership demands moral courage, not merely economic strategy.”
The event also featured three panel discussions, titled: Accelerating Indonesia’s Climate Ambition for Economic Growth, Driving the Energy Transition for Cities and Industries, and Creating Meaningful Impact for People and Nature through Food, Land, and Water Transformation. Speakers included leading national figures such as Rachmat Kaimuddin (Deputy for Basic Infrastructure Coordination, Coordinating Ministry for Infrastructure and Regional Development), Julmansyah (Director of Tenure Conflict Resolution and Indigenous Forests, Ministry of Forestry), William P. Sabandar (President, Intelligent Transport System Indonesia), Joko Tri Haryanto (President Director, Environmental Fund Management Agency), and many others.
As Stories to Watch 2025 & Beyond's conclusion, WRI Indonesia’s young researchers called for all stakeholders to engage in supporting a just transition for people, nature, and climate, and to strengthen WRI Indonesia’s role as a trusted, science-based research partner for government and business. Held annually, Stories to Watch serves as a key reference point for policymakers, academia, private sector leaders, and civil society, spotlighting the trends and opportunities that will shape Indonesia’s sustainable future.