Enviro News Asia, Jakarta – Improving air quality in Indonesia requires stronger collaboration among government institutions, businesses, researchers, civil society, and communities, as air pollution affects public health, socioeconomic conditions, and healthcare costs.
Air pollutants and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions often originate from the same sources, including fossil fuel combustion. As a result, measures to reduce GHG emissions can also deliver direct benefits by lowering air pollutant concentrations.
Arief Rosadi, Manager of Diplomacy and Global Relations at the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR), said accelerating renewable energy deployment, improving energy efficiency, electrifying transportation, strengthening waste management, and controlling open burning could simultaneously reduce GHG emissions and air pollution.
“Emissions come from transportation, industry, power plants, open burning, and household activities. There is no single button that can solve everything. Therefore, no single institution, including the government, can address all of these challenges alone,” Arief said during the “Collaboration for Clean Air: Strengthening Multi-Stakeholder Roles in Reducing Air Pollution in Indonesia” workshop on August 28.
Growing Public Concern
Muhamad Yudistira Rahayu, Head of IESR’s Climate and Clean Air Pollutants program, said the institute’s latest survey indicated that air quality has become an increasingly important public concern.
The growing awareness is reflected in the public’s ability to identify sectors contributing to air pollution. Yudistira said public concern tends to increase when the health and socioeconomic consequences of pollution are presented in concrete terms.
“One example is the estimated healthcare burden borne by Jakarta residents due to air pollution, which reached Rp59 trillion in 2025,” Yudistira said.
Prof. Puji Lestari, Head of the Air and Waste Management Expertise Group at the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), said modeling conducted by her team showed that transportation, particularly motor vehicle exhaust emissions, remains the largest source of air pollution in Jakarta.
However, she stressed that Jakarta’s air quality is also influenced by surrounding areas within the Greater Jakarta metropolitan region, including Bogor, Bekasi, Depok, Tangerang City, and Tangerang Regency.
“Our modeling shows that even without pollution originating from Jakarta itself, the surrounding areas contribute around 38.51% of PM2.5 concentrations in Jakarta. This means pollution control requires cross-regional efforts and cannot be handled by Jakarta alone,” Puji said.
Health and Economic Impacts
Prof. Budi Haryanto, Chairman of the Research Center for Climate Change (RCCC) at the University of Indonesia, highlighted the health consequences of increasing air pollutant concentrations.
He said every increase of 15 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m³) in air pollutant concentrations is associated with increases in cases of acute respiratory infections, pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and ischemic heart disease, although the magnitude varies among conditions.
“The increase in disease cases directly affects healthcare costs, which we estimate could rise by two to three times,” Budi said.
Meanwhile, Sheila Dewi Ayu Kusumaningtyas, Ph.D., from the Applied Climate Services Directorate of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency (BMKG), said the agency monitors air quality across Indonesia in real time.
One of the monitoring systems uses satellite-based air pollution indicators, which currently show that the Greater Jakarta area is under an alert status.
Lessons from China
Participants also highlighted the importance of sustained government action and long-term planning to address air pollution.
Ririn Radyawati Kusuma, Indonesia Director of Clean Air Asia, pointed to China’s experience, where comprehensive air pollution control measures began in 2013 following severe air quality conditions in Beijing.
She said China’s approach was supported by short-, medium-, and long-term planning, as well as central government direction requiring local authorities to address air pollution.
“China implemented a ‘one city, one policy’ approach, giving each city flexibility to develop its own mitigation plan based on its local conditions and issues,” Ririn said.
Novita Natalia, Co-founder of Bicara Udara, emphasized the importance of understanding target audiences when developing advocacy initiatives and public campaigns to increase awareness and exposure to air pollution issues.
The workshop underscored the need for coordinated action across sectors and administrative boundaries, particularly as the sources and impacts of air pollution extend beyond individual cities and institutions.
Strengthening cooperation between government agencies, researchers, businesses, civil society organizations, and communities will be essential to developing more effective and sustained measures to improve air quality in Indonesia. (*)
