Member of the Committee for Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation (BKSAP) of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia, Dyah Roro Esti Widya Putri, said that the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic had become a global health crisis and caused enormous impacts on global economy with lower class people (poor people) being hardest hit by the crisis.

“Under the most optimistic scenario, the World Bank has projected that at least 11 million people in all East Asia and Pacific countries will be pushed into poverty,” Roro said in the 7th Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) 2020 held virtually, Wednesday (20/5/2020). 

She explained that according to the UNDP report on social and economic impacts caused by COVID-19 pandemic, around 1.3 billion people who worked in informal sectors had lost their jobs in Asia and Pacific. Not only that, the COVID-19 pandemic had tremendous impact on access to energy . A lot of power plant constructions were stopped due to the suspension of construction activities and supply chain system. 

“In Indonesia, the state-owned electricity company (PLN) is currently postponing or halting several of its power plant projects due to this pandemic causing delay to improvement of energy accessibility,” stated the Member of Commission VII (energy, research and technology) of the House. 

On that occasion, the Golkar Party politician put forward her ideas strategic steps that could be taken after the pandemic. She hoped economic activities and economic growth would occur thus generating demands for electricity or global energy. 

The implementation of the Renewable Energies (EBT) requires a strong regulatory support. Therefore, political will of countries around the world is crucial. To date, there are 183 countries in the world that have ratified COP21: Paris Agreement in 2015 which has been translated into the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).  

Indonesia itself has ratified the Paris Agreement, specifically targeting the energy sector by 23 percent of the new and renewable energy (EBT) in the national energy mix in 2025. According to development report 2020, the amount of EBT in the current national energy mix is 9.15 percent (with fossil-based energy still dominates. The data is as follows oil: 33.58 percent, gas: 20.12 percent, and coal: 37.15 percent). Meanwhile, the percentage of power plant capacity sourced from EBT in Indonesia is 12.2 percent (10.169 MW).  

She added that in addressing a global issue such as climate change, multidisciplinary approach was needed. Basically, concerted efforts to address the global issue by engaging actors of all sectors such as the government, CSO, academicians, private sector, State-Owned Companies and young people were needed to achieve the target faster. “In other words, mutual cooperation (gotong royong) is the key to addressing the global issue,” she said.  

In addition to Roro from the Indonesian House of Representatives, Amina J. Mohammed, the Secretary General of the UN Deputy; Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, the Executive Secretary of ESCAP; Don Pramudwinai, Foreign Affairs Minister of Thailand; Fidelis Magalhaes, Minister of Legislative Reform and Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation of the Republic of Timor Leste; and the Global Health Professor from the Imperial College London, David Nabarro were among the delegates attended the world annual forum aimed at achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).