Indonesian Civil Society Submits Petition to the Japanese Government and JICA: A Call for the Immediate Termination of JICA’s Promotion of “False Solutions” through its Support for the Non-Transparent “Master Plan for Energy Transition Management Project in Indonesia”
On September 15, 2025, six Indonesian civil society organizations, including WALHI (Friends of the Earth Indonesia), submitted a petition to Japan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and the President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The petition is titled: “A Call for the Immediate Termination of JICA’s Promotion of “False Solutions” through its Support for the Non-Transparent “Master Plan for Energy Transition Management Project in Indonesia” — Meaningful Participation of Local Communities and Civil Society is Essential for a Just and Equitable Energy Transition”.
JICA is currently commissioning four companies—JERA, TEPCO Power Grid, TEPSCO (Tokyo Electric Power Services Co.), and Mitsubishi Research Institute—to carry out support for the development of an Energy Transition Master Plan in Indonesia. The Indonesian civil society organizations that submitted the petition have expressed concern both before and after the launch of JICA’s support for the Master Plan. They have argued that, under the name of “energy transition," the Japanese government is promoting technologies such as CCUS (carbon capture, utilization, and storage), hydrogen, ammonia, biomass, and LNG (liquefied natural gas), which in effect prolong the use of fossil fuels and pose threats to the environment and the safety of local communities. The groups have been calling for an immediate end to such support, which they see as imposing “false solutions” on Indonesia.
However, when FoE Japan inquired with JICA about the progress of the Master Plan support, it was revealed that stakeholder meetings and a public comment process related to the Energy Transition Master Plan had already been conducted without any notice being given to these Indonesian civil society organizations, which have a strong interest in such energy transition issues.
In response to this situation, the Indonesian civil society organizations expressed strong protest in their petition against the Energy Transition Master Plan being decided in such a non-transparent and exclusive manner—despite its significant impact on the lives, cultures, safety, environment, and human rights of local communities and citizens across Indonesia. They also emphasized that meaningful participation of local communities and civil society is essential to achieving a rapid, just, and equitable energy transition, and warned against JICA’s continuation of support for the development of the Energy Transition Master Plan through an undemocratic process lacking transparency, information disclosure, and meaningful participation. The Indonesian civil society organizations have demanded that if JICA continues its support, it must first conduct a thorough assessment to verify whether the methods of information dissemination were appropriate and sufficient. They also call for restarting the development process from the beginning—including stakeholder meetings—to ensure that the views of local communities and civil society are meaningfully reflected in the Master Plan.
Below is the petition (English translation) submitted by the Indonesian civil society organizations to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and JICA.
*) This English version is an interpretation of the original Indonesian version. If there are any differences in words or sentences, please refer to the Indonesian version.
September 15, 2025
Mr. IWAYA Takeshi, Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mr. TANAKA Akihiko, President, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
PETITION: A Call for the Immediate Termination of JICA’s Promotion of “False Solutions” through its Support for the Non-Transparent “Master Plan for Energy Transition Management Project in Indonesia” — Meaningful Participation of Local Communities and Civil Society is Essential for a Just and Equitable Energy Transition
We, the undersigned, are civil society organizations in Indonesia working on issues related to energy, climate, environment, and human rights. We have repeatedly urged the Government of Japan not to promote “false solutions” in Indonesia under the guise of energy transition or decarbonization.
In particular, with regard to the “Master Plan for Energy Transition Management Project in Indonesia” (hereinafter referred to as “the Project") led by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), we have mentioned in our letters to the Government of Japan in December 2023[1] and August 2024[2]. In these letters, we expressed serious concerns about the agreement[3] made between JICA and Indonesia’s state-owned electricity company, PLN, in August 2023. The agreement promotes technologies such as CCUS, hydrogen, ammonia, biomass, and LNG, which, rather than facilitating a genuine transition, risk prolonging the use of fossil fuels under the name of “energy transition.” We have therefore called for the immediate cessation of any support that may impose such “false solutions” on Indonesia.
Throughout this period, we have remained attentive to the progress of the Project; however, the only information we have been able to obtain is that four companies—JERA Co., Inc., TEPCO Power Grid, Inc., Tokyo Electric Power Services Co., Ltd. (TEPSCO), and Mitsubishi Research Institute, Inc.—commenced the Project in February 2024 as a commissioned undertaking by JICA[4].
It was only recently, following an inquiry made by a Japanese civil society organization, Friends of the Earth (FoE) Japan, which has been working with us on energy transition issues in Indonesia, that we discovered that a stakeholder meeting related to the Project had already been conducted in July 2024, and that a public comment period was held from January 15 to 30, 2025.
Given that we have conveyed our concerns and requests regarding the Project to the Government of Japan both prior to and during its implementation, it is evident that we, as civil society organizations, are key stakeholders with a strong and legitimate interest in the issue of energy transition in Indonesia.
Nevertheless, it is deeply regrettable that multiple civil society organizations, including ourselves, were not informed of the aforementioned stakeholder meeting or the public comment period, and were thus deprived of the opportunity to voice our perspectives. This raises serious questions as to whether JICA and other parties involved in the Project are genuinely committed to meaningfully reflecting the diverse views of civil society in the Project’s planning and implementation.
We strongly protest the fact that critical decisions concerning energy transition—decisions that will have far-reaching impacts on the lives, cultures, safety, environment, and human rights of communities and citizens across Indonesia—are being made in such a non-transparent and exclusionary manner.
According to the aforementioned agreement between JICA and PLN (dated August 2023)[5], the duration of the Project is set at two years. Based on this, it is presumed that the “Master Plan,” which constitutes the main output of the Project, is expected to be completed around February 2026. In light of this timeline, we are compelled to ask: Will JICA continue to support the development of this Master Plan over the next six months through a non-transparent and undemocratic process?
If ever JICA still intends to proceed with the Project, the first step must be a thorough assessment of whether the methods used by JICA and other relevant parties to disseminate information to civil society and local communities were appropriate and sufficient. Following such an assessment, and in order to ensure that the views of local communities and civil society are meaningfully reflected in the Master Plan, we strongly urge that the planning process—including stakeholder meetings related to the Project—be restarted from the beginning.
As we have reiterated in previous petitions submitted to the Government of Japan, a rapid, just, and equitable decarbonization and energy transition must be carried out in a manner that ensures the meaningful participation of local communities and civil society organizations. To achieve this, appropriate and sufficient transparency and disclosure of information to these stakeholders is essential.
We once again urge JICA to sincerely listen to the voices of local communities —who have been adversely affected by undemocratic and unsustainable energy projects in the past— and civil society organizations and to take appropriate action in the implementation of this Project. This includes, but is not limited to, our repeated calls to put an end to the promotion of false climate solutions such as CCUS, hydrogen, ammonia, biomass, and LNG, which serve only to prolong the use of fossil fuels and cause destruction to the environment and livelihoods of local communities.
Signatories:
1. Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia (WALHI/Friends of the Earth Indonesia)
2. 350 Indonesia
3. Aksi Ekologi & Emansipasi Rakyat (AEER)
4. Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS)
5. Jaringan Advokasi Tambang (JATAM)
6. Trend Asia
Contact:
Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia (WALHI/Friends of the Earth Indonesia)
Address: Jl. Tegal Parang Utara No 14, Jakarta Selatan 12790. INDONESIA
Email: informasi@walhi.or.id
Tel: +62-21-79193363
[1] https://foejapan.org/en/issue/20231215/15486/
[2] https://www.walhi.or.id/petisi-koalisi-masyarakat-sipil-indonesia-terhadap-asia-zero-emission-community-azec
[3] https://www.jica.go.jp/Resource/english/our_work/social_environmental/id/asia/southeast/indonesia/pj8nfn000000og6h-att/report_02.pdf
[4] https://www.jera.co.jp/en/news/information/20240219_1818
[5] Same as footnote 3
