Southeast Asia · IDN

Indonesia Environmental Profile

Indonesia's environmental story is shaped by rapid growth across a vast archipelago. Territorial fossil and industrial CO₂ reached 812.2 million tonnes in 2024—more than five times the 1990 level—while coal supplied 61.5% of domestic electricity generation. Renewable electricity held at 18.1%, even as energy use per person continued to rise from a comparatively low base. Land indicators need more care than a single headline: FAO's latest assessment shows a net forest-area gain of about 81,480 hectares per year for 2020–2025, but a net balance can coexist with gross natural-forest loss and degradation elsewhere. Indonesia also has the highest modeled climate exposure of these three profiles, while its Red List Index has declined to 0.75. The central tension is therefore not simply growth versus conservation, but whether cleaner energy, resilient infrastructure, and effective ecosystem protection can scale together.

  • History from 1990–2024
  • Reviewed 14 July 2026
  • Snapshot 2026.07

Six signals, each with its own clock

Values are not forced into a false common year. The observation year and source sit on every card.

Total CO₂ emissions
812.2 million t

+424% since 1990

Observation: 2024

GCB / OWID (opens in a new tab)

CO₂ per person
2.87 t/person

+239% since 1990

Observation: 2024

GCB / OWID (opens in a new tab)

Population
281.2 million

+53% since 1990

Observation: 2023

UN WPP / OWID (opens in a new tab)

Primary energy use
11,762 kWh/person

+226% since 1990

Observation: 2024

U.S. EIA (opens in a new tab)

Renewable electricity
18.1%

+4.3 points since 2015

Observation: 2024

Ember / OWID (opens in a new tab)

Net forest-area change
+81,480 ha/year

Net gain in the latest interval

Observation: 2025 · 2020–2025 average

FAO FRA / OWID (opens in a new tab)

What stands out

Each insight connects multiple indicators instead of repeating a headline number.

Low energy use does not mean a low-growth footprint

Indonesia used about 11,762 kWh of primary energy per person in 2024—far below the United States or Germany—but that figure has more than tripled since 1990. Over the same period, territorial CO₂ grew even faster. The development challenge is therefore forward-looking: meeting rising demand without locking new power, industry, and transport into a high-carbon trajectory.

See the evidence

Coal dominates a renewable-rich country

Renewables produced 18.1% of electricity in 2024, led by hydropower, bioenergy, and geothermal within ‘other renewables.’ Yet coal alone supplied 61.5%. That gap shows why resource potential and actual transition speed are different questions: grid expansion, finance, permitting, and the retirement of coal assets all shape what can be built and dispatched.

See the evidence

A positive forest balance is not an all-clear

FAO reports a net forest-area gain in the latest five-year interval, while the Red List Index continued to fall and protected coverage of terrestrial Key Biodiversity Areas stood at 26.3%. These measures capture different things. Plantation expansion or regrowth can lift net area without replacing mature habitat, so biodiversity outcomes and gross natural-forest change must be read alongside the net figure.

See the evidence

A trajectory, not just a latest value

Territorial fossil and industrial CO₂, with total and per-person views using the same selected years.

Indonesia CO₂ history

812.2 million t in 2024, compared with 155.0 million t CO₂ in 1990.

1990–2024 selected observations. Source: GCB / OWID. Land-use change excluded.
View emissions data table
Indonesia historical total and per-capita CO₂
YearTotal (t CO₂)Per person (t)
1990154,990,6900.84
1995222,225,3001.11
2000281,054,4301.30
2005347,361,2801.50
2010445,370,0801.81
2015551,160,0602.11
2020623,304,0002.27
2021632,946,0502.29
2022758,020,5002.72
2023762,357,5702.71
2024812,220,2002.87

Electricity is the leading edge—not the whole system

Generation shares show the power recipe. Primary energy per person supplies the wider context.

Renewable electricity share

18.1% in 2024.

Share of domestic electricity generation. Source: Ember via Our World in Data.
View renewable-share data table
Indonesia renewable electricity share
YearRenewable share
200019.99%
200517.05%
201019.50%
201513.79%
202018.12%
202118.17%
202219.61%
202318.60%
202418.09%

Electricity mix, 2024

371.5 TWh of domestic generation; shares are derived from the nine source rows.

Ember coverage
Coal
61.48% 228.43 TWh
Gas
18.51% 68.78 TWh
Oil
1.92% 7.12 TWh
Nuclear
0.00% 0.00 TWh
Hydropower
7.35% 27.29 TWh
Wind
0.13% 0.47 TWh
Solar
0.36% 1.35 TWh
Bioenergy
5.74% 21.33 TWh
Other renewables
4.51% 16.77 TWh

Net forest change and agricultural gases

Two useful indicators with deliberately separate accounting boundaries.

Net forest-area change

2025

+81,480 ha/year

Expansion minus deforestation; this is not gross natural-forest loss. 2020–2025 average.

FAO FRA / OWID (opens in a new tab)

Agricultural emissions

2023

154.2 Mt CO₂e

IPCC Agriculture greenhouse gases in CO₂e; excludes land-use CO₂ and energy.

FAOSTAT (opens in a new tab)

Scores need direction, definition, and restraint

Exposure is kept separate from vulnerability and readiness; biodiversity coverage is not presented as ecological success.

Climate exposure

2024

0.505 / 1

0 is lower; 1 is higher

Modeled biophysical exposure component of ND-GAIN; invariant across the time series.

ND-GAIN (opens in a new tab)

Climate vulnerability

2024

0.431 / 1

Down from 0.469 in 1995

Exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity combined; lower is better.

ND-GAIN (opens in a new tab)

Adaptation readiness

2024

0.398 / 1

1 is more ready

Economic, governance, and social readiness to convert investment into adaptation.

ND-GAIN (opens in a new tab)

Connections to watch

Watch 01

Track whether renewable generation grows faster than electricity demand; share alone can hide rapid changes in total output.

Watch 02

Read net forest-area change beside habitat quality and species-risk indicators, not as a substitute for them.

Watch 03

Watch whether adaptation readiness improves while physical exposure remains structurally high across an archipelago.

What these numbers cannot tell us: National indicators cannot resolve local inequality, implementation quality, ecosystem condition, or the lived impacts of pollution and climate hazards. They are a starting map for investigation, not a verdict.

A reproducible, bounded snapshot

Snapshot 2026.07

24Earth retrieved this snapshot on 14 July 2026 and stores it locally. Each source is refreshed on its own schedule, so every metric retains its observation year instead of being relabeled “current.” Values are rounded only for display; downloads retain source precision where reuse permits.

Territorial CO₂Fossil fuels and industry; no land-use change.
ElectricityDomestic generation; shares, not total energy.
ForestNet area balance; not gross natural-forest loss.
Indicator data dictionary and source ledger
Sources, observation coverage, licenses, and limitations
Source familyCoverage / updateLicense / reuseBoundary and 24Earth treatment
Global Carbon Budget (2025), processed by Our World in Data Global Carbon Project and Our World in DataThrough 2024; source update 2025-11-13Source citation requested; OWID Chart API material is CC BY 4.0 where applicable, with original source terms continuing to apply.Territorial fossil-fuel and industrial CO₂. Land-use change is excluded.
Yearly Electricity Data, compiled by Our World in Data Ember via Our World in DataThrough 2024–2025, depending on country; source update 2026-04-24CC BY 4.024Earth uses 2000 onward so the displayed generation data is within Ember coverage, avoiding legacy Energy Institute rows.
International primary energy consumption per capita U.S. Energy Information AdministrationThrough 2024; source update 2026U.S. government data are public domain; attribution requested.EIA series INTL.47-33-{ISO3}-MBTUPP.A converted from million Btu per person to kWh per person using 293.07107. This is EIA, not IEA.
Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, processed by Our World in DataThrough 2025; source update 2025-12-05FAO open-data terms; attribution required.Average annual net forest-area change for the latest assessment interval, not gross tree-cover loss.
FAOSTAT Emissions Totals — IPCC Agriculture Food and Agriculture Organization of the United NationsThrough 2023; source update 2025-10-28CC BY 4.0 with FAO database termsItem 1711, IPCC Agriculture; Element 723113, emissions in CO₂-equivalent using AR5 factors; FAO Tier 1. Source kt CO₂e values are multiplied by 1,000 for displayed tonnes.
World Population Prospects 2024 United Nations, processed by Our World in DataThrough 2023; source update 2024United Nations data terms; attribution required.Historical population estimate used for context; it is not forced to the year of other indicators.
ND-GAIN Country Index 2026 release Notre Dame Global Adaptation InitiativeThrough 2024; source update 2026-06-26CC BY 3.0Exposure is a modeled biophysical index from 0 (lower) to 1 (higher); it is not observed disaster loss.
Red List Index (UN SDG 15.5.1) BirdLife International and IUCN, distributed through UN SDG data and Our World in DataThrough 2024; source update 2025-10-29Original IUCN and BirdLife reuse terms apply. Display only; omitted from downloads.A national aggregate from OWID's 2025-10-29 snapshot is displayed with attribution. It differs from a later live UNSD revision, so versions are not blended. Raw species data and this metric are excluded from 24Earth downloads.
Protected coverage of terrestrial Key Biodiversity Areas (UN SDG 15.1.2) BirdLife International, IUCN and UNEP-WCMC, distributed through UN SDG data and Our World in DataThrough 2024; source update 2025-10-29Original provider and Protected Planet reuse terms apply. Display only; omitted from downloads.The national SDG aggregate is displayed with attribution. Raw protected-area and KBA data are not redistributed by 24Earth.

Download the Indonesia profile snapshot

CSV is analysis-friendly; JSON preserves definitions, precision, and source metadata. Biodiversity aggregates are intentionally omitted from both files while original reuse rights are reviewed.

Licensing decision: This profile does not redistribute IEA data. Primary energy comes from U.S. EIA. Electricity history begins in Ember’s openly licensed modern coverage. Source access and reuse permission are treated as separate questions.