The UK Government has agreed to help fund low-carbon transportation projects in Indonesia. The UK through the Future Cities: UK-Indonesia Low Carbon Partnership has promised to give Indonesia financial funding in the form of £9 million.
On Tuesday the 5th of July (2022), the deal was signed by representatives of both the UK and Indonesia, the British Ambassador to Indonesia and Timor Leste, Owen Jenkins, and Secretary-General of the Transportation Ministry, Novie Riyanto.
The Indonesian Government are making significant plans to urbanise their country and with this comes the risk of increasing greenhouse gas emissions. Transportation produces roughly 25% of global carbon emissions and therefore the UK has made this deal with Indonesia to help keep their transport emissions down.
To do this, the funding will be used to develop eco-friendly public transport in several areas of Indonesia with five different low-carbon projects. The areas in which the funding will help improve transportation will include Central Java, East Java, West Java, Jakarta, North Sumatra, and South Sulawesi.
These projects have been planned so that they will help to mitigate the effects of climate change and over the next three years the UK Government will help to fund these transport related projects. The projects include:
- In Greater Semarang, funding will be used for land value capture, light rail transit (LRT) development and transit-orientated development
- Funding will be used to develop low-carbon transport that will be inclusive for the vulnerable
- For urban, coastal cities, funding will be used to strengthen their transportation
- Funding will go towards decarbonising transportation
- In Jakarta, money will go towards cleaner transportation
Jenkins stated that the UK Government has committed to put funds towards these projects as “By 2045, nearly three-quarters of Indonesia’s citizens will live in urbanised areas. Without intervention to curb emissions, their quality of life will be degraded by air pollution.”
