Why some Indonesians worry about a $20 billion international deal to get off coal

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Piles of coal are seen transported on barges in Samarinda, East Kalimantan in January 11, 2022. Aksara M. Rahman/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Aksara M. Rahman/AFP via Getty Images

Piles of coal are seen transported on barges in Samarinda, East Kalimantan in January 11, 2022.

Aksara M. Rahman/AFP via Getty Images

Indonesia is the world's largest exporter of coal for electricity. And it's also an emerging economy trying to address climate change. The country recently signed a highly publicized, $20 billion international deal to transition away from coal and toward renewable energy. The hope is the deal could be a model for other countries.

But Indonesian energy experts and solar executives worry much of this deal may be "omong kosong" — empty talk. They say despite Indonesia's renewable aspirations, the country has many coal-friendly policies which this deal might not address, including an exemption to build more coal plants.

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This episode was produced by Liz Metzger, edited by Rebecca Ramirez and fact-checked by Anil Oza. Alex Drewenskus was the audio engineer.