Global energy think tank EMBER Climate estimates that methane emissions from coal mines in Indonesia are eight times higher than official estimates.

EMBER Climate warns that this discrepancy risks undermining global methane emissions reduction commitments by 30 percent by 2030, with Indonesia being a signatory to global methane agreements.

Senior Climate and Energy Analyst at EMBER Climate Indonesia, Dody Setiawan, said that using outdated estimation methods risks masking the true extent of the methane emissions problem from coal mines in Indonesia. He emphasized that Indonesia's credibility in the international arena could be questioned due to this disparity.

EMBER Climate's report indicates that emissions from open-pit coal mines would quadruple using revised emission factors recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Additionally, Indonesia's latest climate reports do not account for emissions from various underground mining activities conducted by 15 coal companies. With methane emissions from open-pit coal mines increasing by 12 percent per year since 2000, additional emissions from underground mines would further exacerbate the total emissions.

Dody highlighted the need to acknowledge this issue and update Indonesia's coal mine methane emissions estimation methods in the upcoming biennial transparency reports (BTR) to the UNFCCC. He provided an example where an underground coal mine project by Qinfa would add approximately 332 kilotons of methane (ktCH4) to the atmosphere. When combined with the officially reported figures in 2019 (128 ktCH4), total methane emissions would triple.

When converted to carbon dioxide equivalent, the combined methane emissions from open-pit and underground coal mines would surpass all emissions from forest and land fires in Indonesia in 2022. Hence, Indonesia has the opportunity to improve its coal mine methane emissions management in line with the Global Methane Pledge framework.