Ahead Of The 2024 General Election, The Young Generation Urges Presidential And Vice Presidential Candidates To Seriously Handle Energy Transition

Illustration of renewable energy (Photo: dock. Antara)

JAKARTA - Indonesia has entered a political period ahead of the 2024 General Election (Pemilu). However, the problem regarding the energy transition has not yet been fully realized by the country's leaders in the country.

Therefore, the younger generation urges presidential candidates (candidates) and vice presidential candidates (cawapres) to commit to dealing with climate crises and energy transitions that can be included in their vision and mission to be realized immediately.

Related to this, Economist and Director of the Center of Economic and Law Studies (Celios) Bhima Yudhistira assessed that currently is a momentum for the three potential candidates to include explicitly the climate management program, at least until 2029.

Bearing in mind, the registration of presidential and vice presidential candidates in 2024 has taken place on 19-25 October 2023, as well as conveying the vision and mission to the General Elections Commission (KPU).

"If no one talks about the issue of the renewable energy transition, I doubt they have a serious commitment to overcome the problem of the climate crisis," he said in a media briefing in Jakarta, on Thursday, October 19.

Bhima added, if the commitment to handling the climate crisis is only voiced during the campaign, it will be difficult to collect promises of environmental concern to future leaders of the next country.

"The results of the Celios study show that 89 percent of young voters want an acceleration of the closure of coal power plants, and as much as 60 percent want renewable energy to dominate national energy," he said.

On the same occasion, the Coordinator of Climate Rangers Jakarta, Ginanjar Ariyasuta, said that the uncertainty in handling the climate crisis and energy transition was getting stronger ahead of the 2024 election.

"No single presidential candidate has a strong commitment to handling the climate crisis and energy transition," he said.

Therefore, simultaneous actions emerged in various cities in Indonesia to urge candidates for presidential and vice-presidential candidates to have a serious commitment regarding the handling of the climate crisis and energy transition, namely the Power Up movement.

This movement was held simultaneously on October 29, 2023-4 November 2023 in several cities in Indonesia and the world.

For in Indonesia, the participants will go to the Jakarta KPU Office on November 3, 2023 to convey their demands.

Power Up itself is part of the international civil society movement that urges political elites to make serious policies to leave fossil energy and switch to community-based renewable energy.