An Indonesian environment watchdog has urged the government to redouble efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions stemming from energy production and land use to meet the country’s emission-reduction target, amid the ongoing two-week United Nations climate summit in Poland.

At the summit, which kicked off in Katowice on Monday, nations are expected to agree to a rulebook firming up each nation’s pledge made at the 2015 Paris summit to prevent catastrophic climate change.

Firm action has been demanded following a recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) that urges countries to carry out additional measures in a bid to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2030.

Watchdog Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI) said the report should provide the momentum for the government to reach for cleaner energy to reduce emissions, as Indonesia still relied heavily on coal for energy.

State-owned electricity company PLN recorded in its electricity procurement business plan for the period of 2018-2027 that, as of this year, around 62 percent of all power plants in Indonesia are still fueled by coal. Meanwhile, only 12 percent are powered by renewable sources of energy.

“The government should immediately draft a roadmap for phasing out the dirty energy of coal [in favor of] clean energy,” WALHI climate campaign manager Yuyun Harmono said on Monday.

He added that efforts to produce cleaner energy should comply with several principles, including respecting human rights and not negatively impacting the local ecological or social landscape.

The organization has claimed that a number of renewable energy power plants built across the country have prioritized the interests of investing businesses over those of the people.

Energy is one of the focus topics at the 24th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP24), with the IPCC report stipulating that emissions from fossil fuel use must be halved by 2030 for the world to be able to reach the 1.5 degree goal by the end of the century, AFP reported.

Nations heavily relying on coal, such as Poland, might want this round of talks to reflect the role fossil fuels play in their respective economy.

It will unveil a declaration calling on states to “recognize the challenges faced by sectors, cities and regions in the transition from fossil fuels [...] and the importance to ensure a decent future for workers impacted by the transition”.

Alden Meyer, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, said that, while there was a responsibility to ensure fossil fuel workers were not abandoned as the world switches away from nonrenewables, the need for speed was pressing.

Meanwhile, Yuyun also said the government was still overlooking the aspect of land use in its effort to cut emissions, as it was focusing on forests with plants used for biofuel only, rather than saving trees in primary forests.

“The government has also yet to include the potential of the blue carbon ecosystem in its emission reduction attempts, which is important for people living in coastal areas, such as fishermen,” he added.

That ecosystem, which includes mangroves and seagrasses, is deemed an important component in climate change mitigation because of its significant carbon-storage capacity.

The Environment and Forestry Ministry said in a statement that Indonesia’s delegation to COP24 had produced a position paper stipulating, among other things, action plans of various stakeholders to reach the country’s emission-reduction target.

The position paper will be a guideline for the delegation in negotiations and other activities during the summit.

Minister Siti Nurbaya will attend meetings with European countries to talk about several issues, such as forestry, the circular economy and palm oil.

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