TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs and Investments Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan in a social media post published on September 12 revealed his intentions to reduce the number of vehicles dependent on fossil fuel. One of the strategies, he added in his Instagram post, is by accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles in Indonesia.

Luhut explained that the government will issue a regulation that limits the sales of fossil fuel-powered vehicles in hopes of accelerating Indonesia’s transportation electrification.

“I would also intend to see the future regulation to be relevant in its application as the EV accelerated program is the nation’s commitment to reduce [fuel] subsidies and surely reduce carbon emissions through the transition toward environmentally-friendly energy,” he wrote in his personal account on Monday.

The transition towards electrification, Luhut argued, can reduce dependence on subsidized fuel use and also reduce CO2 emissions which are targeted to decrease by 40 million tons by 2030. Luhut also said that currently, the barrier to electrification in Indonesia is the high costs of purchasing electric vehicles and the limited options.

"For this reason, the government is currently formulating a plethora of policies regarding the provision of incentives for two-wheeled and four-wheeled electric vehicles,” he wrote.

The Indonesian government is eyeing to gradually stop all sales of fossil fuel vehicles by 2040 and stop sales of fuel-powered motorcycles, cars, and diesel-engined vehicles starting in 2050, all of which are mentioned in the 2021-2060 net zero emission (NZE) roadmap.

DICKY KURNIAWAN

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