Jakarta. Donors such as France and the European Union welcome news of Germany stepping in to lead the JETP climate funding for Indonesia.

The Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) is a green aid package worth up to $21.5 billion. Over half of the money is coming from the International Partners Group (IPG), a coalition of rich economies originally co-led by the US and Japan. France and the EU are also mobilizing some funds as part of the IPG. Not long after US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, Washington reportedly decided to back out of its leadership role in the JETP Indonesia funding. This followed Trump’s announcement to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord for the second time.

According to media reports, Indonesia’s JETP Secretariat had confirmed that IPG member Germany would take over the US leadership role. Japan will remain as the co-lead. France, which had promised to provide 500 million euros (about $520.7 million) in loans, gave its comments on the changing leadership.

“Regarding the future of the JETP, there is still a clear commitment from the international community. We are very thankful for Germany, which is also very committed to this country [Indonesia], with EU’s support, to be on board,” French Ambassador to Indonesia Fabien Penone told reporters in Jakarta on Wednesday.

An EU diplomat said that the US co-leadership exit was “unfortunate”, although the European bloc “respects its decision”.

“I understand that the US is stepping down as [the JETP] co-lead, but intends to remain engaged in Indonesia’s energy transition. We [EU] welcome that Germany volunteered to step up to take the co-leadership role. We [EU] are fully committed to supporting Germany, … including engaging with the [Indonesian] government,” Thibaut Portevin, head of cooperation for the EU Delegation to Indonesia.

Earlier that day, the EU and France unveiled a combined grant worth 14.7 million euros for Indonesia’s shift to renewables. The money will go into the Indonesia Energy Transition Facility (IETF) technical assistance program. As the name suggests, the IETF will facilitate Indonesia’s policymaking in the energy sector. It will assist state-run firms, including the country’s only electricity provider PLN, in coming up with feasible renewable energy projects.

Coal-reliant Indonesia aims to reach net zero emissions by 2060 or sooner. The country is also a signatory to the Paris Agreement that the US is withdrawing from. Germany’s co-leadership takeover also comes at a time when the Indonesian government is growing increasingly concerned with the JETP commitments. Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia recently said that no JETP money had actually flowed to Indonesia.  President Prabowo Subianto’s younger brother Hashim Djojohadikusumo even called the JETP “a failure”. He claimed that the US government had not disbursed a single dollar of the JETP aid to Indonesia.

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