Expert Exchange: Navigating Indonesia’s post-coal mining and energy transition

Indonesia’s transition away from coal represents a profound socio-economic restructuring for regions like East Kalimantan. As the nation’s largest coal hub, the region faces the projected loss of nearly 17,000 jobs by 2050. Without a justice-oriented lens, this transition risks deepening structural inequalities, where the environmental and economic burdens of the “post-mining” era fall disproportionately on women, youth, and informal workers. 

Current evidence shows that the cessation of mining often leaves behind a landscape of environmental debris that continues to govern everyday life. While official narratives highlight successful reclamation projects, these often reach only a fraction of the population, leaving many with precarious access to land rather than secure entitlement. Furthermore, as formal wages vanish, women frequently absorb the “invisible costs” of economic contraction, managing household food security and care under conditions of environmental degradation; yet their needs remain largely invisible in formal transition frameworks. 

This Expert Exchange will explore the critical intersections of gender, governance, and institutional reform in the coal transition. By bringing together stakeholders, the session will address the “institutional fragmentation” that often silos gender issues away from core energy and industrial planning. Participants will discuss the transition from corporate “discretionary” reclamation to binding regulatory obligations, examine the need for sex-disaggregated data, and explore pathways to ensure that marginalised voices—including youth and informal workers—are embedded into the heart of just transition policy. 

The event will be held in English with translation into Bahasa Indonesia available.

Speakers:

Giovanni Dessy Austriningrum, Dala Institute 

Nitia Agustini Kala Ayu, Dala Institute 

Hening Wikan, SMERU 

Muhammad Syukri, SMERU 

Dr. Dra. Dewa Ayu Laksmiadi Janapriati, Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection, Indonesia 

Ph.D Mia Siscawati, University of Indonesia  

Moderated by (Sibel Ersoy, IKI JET Project)