How serious is the USA? Is the rapid expansion of renewable energies in China working? Will India get away from coal and will the Europeans remain pioneers? When it comes to climate protection, the world always looks to the same handful of states. A breakthrough cannot be achieved without the big ones, but looking only at them gives an incomplete picture. A good example of this is Indonesia. The world's fourth-most populous country, with 280 million inhabitants, held elections this week and the presumed new president, Prabowo Subianto (the official result will be available in a few weeks), will play a significant role in the question of whether the world succeeds in climate change.
When it comes to coal exports, the country is well ahead of important producing countries such as Australia, Russia, the USA and South Africa. According to figures from 2022, it generates around twice as much energy from burning coal as Germany and was also ahead of the Federal Republic in terms of CO2 emissions two years ago outdated: Indonesia emits more of the climate-damaging gas than countries such as France, Turkey, Italy, Spain and Great Britain.
Indonesia is not just a problem case
According to surveys by "Climate Analytics" and the "New Climate Institute", the country's climate protection efforts are "absolutely inadequate"; emissions from the energy sector alone could reach the threshold of 400 million tons of CO2 in 2030 - more than twice what they are would be manageable to comply with the 1.5 degree temperature limit of the Paris Climate Agreement.
But Indonesia is not just a problem case: the country has the largest nickel deposits in the world. There are said to be around 21 million tonnes in the ground, around a fifth of the world's total. The raw material is essential for the production of lithium-ion batteries and thus for the switch from combustion engines to electric cars. That's why companies and governments in the West are now increasingly interested in the world's largest island state, as my colleague Laura Höflinger reports. Indonesia is also home to around 10 percent of the world's rainforest area and is considered the most biodiverse country in the world. This makes it a climate swing state: The destructive potential for the global climate due to the political decisions in Indonesia is great - the benefits for climate protection would be just as great if the deforestation of the jungle could be stopped and coal exports reduced.
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The topics of the week
Huge natural resources: How Indonesia wants to get rich – thanks to the transport transition.
No country produces more nickel than Indonesia. A key component in many car batteries and therefore indispensable for the transport transition in the West. The problem: China is already there.
Indonesia's new capital Nusantara: Is the greenest city in Asia being built here - or a billion-dollar grave for a president?
Indonesia is building a new capital. Nusantara is said to be green, climate neutral, in the middle of the forests of Borneo. One person in particular dreams of the megaproject: the outgoing president.
Historical images evaluated: 1.6 percent of Greenland's ice surface has already melted.
Satellite images from Greenland show: From the 1980s to the 2010s, ice and glaciers that were roughly the size of Albania thawed there. A dangerous cycle has been set in motion.
Climate crisis and the Gulf Stream: Researchers warn of a "devastating tipping point" in currents in the Atlantic.
Dutch researchers consider their study results to be "scary": Climate change could lead to the collapse of a complex interaction of ocean currents in the Atlantic - with drastic consequences.
Climate-friendly energy supply: EU Commission approves billions in funding for hydrogen projects
Electrolyzers in North Rhine-Westphalia, an offshore pipeline in the North Sea - such projects are intended to advance hydrogen as an element of the climate change. Now it is clear: the state can push this forward with a lot of money.
Climate-damaging refrigerants: What you should pay attention to with heat pumps.
Heat pumps are actually supposed to protect the climate, but many devices are operated with extremely harmful refrigerants. The EU has decided to ban the substances step by step. What does this mean for homeowners?
Stay confident.
Yours, Kurt Stukenberg,
Deputy Head of International Department