Imagine the Earth as a human body.
For decades, we’ve been “drinking” energy from coal, oil, and gas. It gives a quick boost, cheap, powerful, and reliable. But slowly, it damages our internal organs.
Now, the side effects are impossible to ignore.
That’s what we call the climate crisis.
So, what exactly is the climate crisis?
In simple terms:
the planet is overheating.
Scientifically, the climate crisis happens because greenhouse gases keep piling up in the atmosphere, mainly carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and nitrous oxide (N₂O). These gases trap heat that should have escaped back into space, creating a greenhouse effect.
And guess where the biggest share comes from?
The energy sector.
According to Our World in Data, globally, around 73% of total greenhouse gas emissions come from energy—power plants burning fossil fuels, transportation, and industrial activities. That means if we’re serious about tackling the climate crisis, energy is the most crucial entry point.
The impacts hit our lives, not just polar bears
Climate change is often framed as something distant and abstract.
Melting ice caps. Polar bears losing their homes.
But in Indonesia, the impacts are much closer to home:
- Rising temperatures → lower productivity, higher health risks
- More extreme weather → floods, droughts, crop failures
- Sea-level rise → coastal communities slowly sinking
- Food and water crises → prices go up, vulnerable groups suffer the most
And this isn’t some futuristic prediction.
It’s already happening.
Temperature increase data from 1940 to 2024. Source: The Climate Coalition
The World Meteorological Organization reports that recent years have been among the hottest in human history. In Indonesia, we’re seeing more extreme heat days and rainfall patterns that are increasingly unpredictable.
The world agrees: we can’t keep going like this
Because the threat is real, countries eventually sat down together.
In 2015, almost every country in the world signed the Paris Agreement. The goal is simple but ambitious: to keep global temperature rise well below 2°C, and ideally limit it to 1.5°C, compared to pre-industrial levels.
Why does 1.5°C matter so much?
Because even half a degree can be the difference between small islands surviving, or disappearing. Between a crisis we can still manage, or a permanent disaster.
The problem is, with today’s energy system, we’re not on a safe path.
That’s why at every COP (Conference of the Parties), one issue keeps coming back:
accelerating the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy.
At this point, clean energy is no longer a trend.
It’s a necessity.
What makes clean energy different?
Clean energy—like solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal—has one major advantage:
its emissions are dramatically lower than fossil fuels.
While coal-fired power plants release massive amounts of CO₂ every time they operate, solar panels and wind turbines generate electricity without combustion. That means:
- less air pollution,
- lower greenhouse gas emissions,
- and reduced health impacts.
Multiple studies show that without an energy transition, climate targets are nearly impossible to reach, even if other sectors cut their emissions.
This isn’t just about the planet. It’s about people.
What often gets overlooked is that clean energy isn’t only an environmental solution. it’s also a social and economic one. Fossil energy systems tend to be:
- concentrated in the hands of a few powerful actors,
- dependent on imports,
- and responsible for pollution that disproportionately affects poorer communities.
Clean energy—especially decentralized systems—offers a different path:
- community-managed energy,
- local job creation,
- more equitable access to power.
In other words, the energy transition isn’t just about changing how we generate electricity. It’s about how we live, work, and share resources more fairly in the future.
So, why do we need clean energy?
Simply, because:
- without clean energy, the climate crisis will spiral further out of control,
- without changing the energy system, global targets remain empty promises,
- without a just transition, young people will carry the burden the longest.
Clean energy isn’t a magic fix. But it is the most reasonable step we have right now, toward a planet that’s still livable, and a future that’s still ours to choose. So, still unsure about the need for a transition?
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