Partnering with domestic and international players for more effective energy-transition policies and financing in Indonesia and Vietnam

Team: Thomas Heller and Jeff Ball
Planning (Scoping)

Image taken over East Kalimantan, one of the world’s biggest coal-producing regions. Note that trees grow in carefully planted rows, suggesting human plantation, which is now a key contributor to the East Kalimantan economy, leading a transition away from coal. (*Image credit: Jeff Ball*)

This project sought to inform effective low-carbon-energy transitions in Indonesia and Vietnam. The group worked to support energy planning, including equity for fossil-fuel-dependent constituencies. Along the way, there were collaborations with international donors and domestic institutions to calibrate financial and policy reforms via multilateral Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETP). Jeffrey Ball led policy labs with Stanford students to analyze the role of external financing in the energy transitions in emerging economies in Asia, seeking to elucidate flows of private capital and Chinese capital supply through the Belt and Road Initiative. The team gained access to key players in the Indonesian private sector, energy-related state enterprises, and government agencies – working primarily with the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime and Investment Affairs and the Ministry of Finance – engaged in the negotiations regarding the Just Energy Transition Partnership and long-term energy development. The Just Energy Transition Partnerships process has become stalled and unable to live up to its intended goals due to the lack of agreement between the Indonesian government, the Just Energy Transition Partnerships international partners, and international financial institutions on an economically stable and equitable transition plan, including power generation for mining operations. An article will detail how and why the Just Energy Transition Partnerships process has bogged down and the energy transition focus has shifted toward national and regional planning and investment processes, themselves complicated by geopolitical and trade tensions between the United States and China. The team also participated in broader conversations between Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability leadership and prominent Indonesian families about an ongoing collaboration to deepen relationships with Southeast Asian institutions and universities. Those conversations continue.

This project also contributes toward the Industry flagship destination.