Indonesia launches Global Hydrogen Ecosystem Summit for energy transition partnerships

Special Indonesia launches Global Hydrogen Ecosystem Summit for energy transition partnerships
Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia gives a speech at the opening ceremony of the Global Hydrogen Ecosystem Summit on April 15, 2025. (Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources)
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Updated 15 April 2025
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Indonesia launches Global Hydrogen Ecosystem Summit for energy transition partnerships

Indonesia launches Global Hydrogen Ecosystem Summit for energy transition partnerships
  • Hyundai partners with Indonesian oil giant Pertamina to produce hydrogen from organic waste
  • Indonesia plans to utilize hydrogen for decarbonization efforts and energy security

JAKARTA: The Global Hydrogen Ecosystem Summit started in Jakarta on Tuesday amid efforts to forge international collaborations in making hydrogen a key pillar of Indonesia’s clean energy transition, with plans to double its gas production rate in the coming years.

The summit is co-organized by the Indonesia Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, the Ministry of National Development Planning and Indonesia’s state utility company PLN. 

Around 2,500 participants from 10 countries will be involved in the three-day forum and exhibition at the Jakarta Convention Center. 

The summit marks a “new chapter” in Indonesia’s implementation of the Paris climate agreement, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said. 

“Indonesia is consistent in its commitment to the Paris agreement. To implement it in the context of renewable energy sources and hydrogen, it cannot be done partially, it must be comprehensively,” Lahadalia said. 

“In the next 10 years, we will double our gas production and I will push to direct the use of new gas wells to meet the demands of the domestic market and support downstreaming efforts, including producing hydrogen.” 

Indonesia is one of the world’s largest producers and consumers of coal, and most of its power needs are met by burning fossil fuels.

In 2024, renewables accounted for around 15 percent of Indonesia’s energy mix. The country of 270 million people has been working to increase its renewable energy sources to meet its pledge of achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.

Under its National Hydrogen Strategy, Indonesia plans to utilize hydrogen for decarbonization efforts, energy security and economic growth. 

“Indonesia has an abundance of renewable energy potential … This Global Hydrogen Ecosystem Summit is a meeting and exhibition that connects all stakeholders,” Eniya Listiani Dewi, director general of new and renewable energy sources at the energy ministry, said during the opening ceremony. 

“(It is) a platform for global collaboration where we can interact, exchange knowledge, build partnerships and do business matching, while also forging production and development of the hydrogen industry.” 

During the summit, South Korea’s automaker Hyundai announced its partnership with Indonesia’s state owned oil and gas company Pertamina to produce hydrogen from organic waste sourced at the Sarimukti landfill near Bandung, the capital of West Java.  

The Korean giant will establish an on-site hydrogen refueling station using Pertamina’s existing compressed natural gas infrastructure, with plans to start construction this year.

“The W2H (waste to hydrogen) ecosystem development project in Indonesia is especially meaningful as it marks the first case of expanding the resource-circulating hydrogen production demonstration project, which has been successfully carried out in Korea, to an overseas market,” Hyundai said in a statement.

“We hope to collaborate with the Indonesian government and companies to expand hydrogen production and further accelerate the transition to a hydrogen society.”


UN warns of Sudanese conflict ‘spill over’ in C.Africa

UN warns of Sudanese conflict ‘spill over’ in C.Africa
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UN warns of Sudanese conflict ‘spill over’ in C.Africa

UN warns of Sudanese conflict ‘spill over’ in C.Africa

United Nations, US: The UN peacekeeping chief warned Thursday about potential spill over from Sudan’s war to undermine nascent stability in the Central African Republic, including paramilitary operations.

Last week, an armed group attacked a patrol by the UN mission in the CAR, killing a Zambian peacekeeper.

Among the world’s poorest countries, the CAR shares a border with Sudan, which has been plunged into devastating conflict between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since April 2023.

Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix highlighted the armed group attacking the CAR mission during a Security Council meeting Thursday, and a report released by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’s office noted attacks in the region as well.

“The security situation remains fragile in border areas,” Lacroix told the UN Security Council, referring to the CAR.

“In the northeast, on the border with Sudan, instability is characterized by the overflow of Sudanese conflict, including incursions by armed groups,” he added.

The Central African Republic is also reckoning with rising numbers of Sudanese refugees fleeing the conflict, with the UN report estimating 36,642 living in the country as of June 1.

“The Sudanese conflict is a real threat. Armed groups are crossing our borders, recruiting young people and compromising our sovereignty,” said CAR UN ambassador Marius Aristide Hoja Nzessioue.

Lacroix said the Central African Republic was at a “delicate juncture,” adding that support for the progress made toward upcoming elections from the international community “remains essential.”

“If these efforts are sustained...the Central African Republic has the potential to become a true success story — not only for Central Africans, but also for Peacekeeping and for this Security Council,” Lacroix said.


Lawmakers scrap ‘revenge’ tax provision from Trump’s big bill after Treasury requests its removal

Lawmakers scrap ‘revenge’ tax provision from Trump’s big bill after Treasury requests its removal
Updated 27 June 2025
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Lawmakers scrap ‘revenge’ tax provision from Trump’s big bill after Treasury requests its removal

Lawmakers scrap ‘revenge’ tax provision from Trump’s big bill after Treasury requests its removal
  • Critics warned that Section 899 of the bill "will hurt the US more than it helps"
  • Global Business Alliance said the section could lead to 700,000 US jobs lost

WASHINGTON: Congressional Republicans agreed to remove the so-called revenge tax provision from President Donald Trump’s big bill Thursday after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent asked members of Congress to do so earlier in the day.

The Section 899 provision would allow the federal government to impose taxes on companies with foreign owners, as well as investors from countries judged as charging “unfair foreign taxes” on US companies.

The measure was expected to lead many companies to avoid investing in the US out of concern that they could face steep taxes.

Bessent said in an X post that he made the request to lawmakers after reaching an agreement with other countries on the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Global Tax Deal. He said that after “months of productive dialogue,” they would “announce a joint understanding among G7 countries that defends American interests.”

After he made the request, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Missouri, said “we will remove proposed tax code Section 899” from the bill and “Congressional Republicans stand ready to take immediate action if the other parties walk away from this deal or slow walk its implementation.”

The removal of the provision will provide “greater certainty and stability for the global economy and will enhance growth and investment in the United States and beyond,” Bessent said in his post.

An analysis by the Global Business Alliance, a trade group representing international companies such as Toyota and Nestlé, estimates that the provision would cost the US 700,000 jobs and $100 billion annually in lost gross domestic product.

Global Business Alliance infographic. (X: @GlobalBiz)

The Global Business Alliance was among several groups that signed a letter addressed to Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo of Idaho, warning of the consequences of Section 899.

The removal of the provision adds a wrinkle to Republicans’ plans to try to offset the cost of the massive package. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill would spike deficits by at least $2.4 trillion over the next decade.

Republicans are rushing to finish the package this week to meet the president’s Fourth of July deadline for passage.

Earlier Thursday, the Senate parliamentarian advised that a Medicaid provider tax overhaul central to the spending bill does not adhere to the chamber’s procedural rules, delivering a crucial blow to Republicans, who are counting on big cuts to Medicaid and other programs to offset trillions of dollars in Trump tax breaks.


EU leaders agree to prolong Russia sanctions: officials

EU leaders agree to prolong Russia sanctions: officials
Updated 27 June 2025
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EU leaders agree to prolong Russia sanctions: officials

EU leaders agree to prolong Russia sanctions: officials
  • EU’s sweeping sanctions includes freezing of more than 200 billion euros ($234 billion) in Russian central bank assets

BRUSSELS: The EU’s 27 leaders on Thursday agreed to extend sanctions on Russia for another six months, resolving fears that Kremlin-friendly Hungary would let the measures lapse, officials said.

The decision at a summit in Brussels means that the EU’s sweeping sanctions over the war in Ukraine, including the freezing of more than 200 billion euros ($234 billion) in Russian central bank assets, will remain in force until at least early 2026.

It comes after officials said they were preparing contingency plans to keep the bloc’s economic punishment on Moscow in place should Hungarian leader Viktor Orban refuse to budge.

EU counterparts had feared a refusal by Budapest to renew the measures could blow a massive hole in the leverage the bloc holds over Russia as the United States presses peace efforts.

Orban took the decision to the wire the last time the sanctions — which need to be extended every six months — came up for renewal in January.

But while the EU made sure its existing measures will remain in place, it failed to get clearance on a new package of sanctions due to a blockage by Hungary’s ally Slovakia.

Slovakian leader Roberto Fico refused at the summit to greenlight the new round of sanctions due to a separate dispute with Brussels over plans to cut off imports of Russian gas by the end of 2027.

Slovakia remains dependent on Russian gas imports and earns money from transit fees for supplies piped across its territory.

Fico held talks with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen earlier on Thursday but failed to get the concessions he wants and announced he would hold up approval of the sanctions package.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky urged EU leaders in a video address to adopt the strong package “targeting Russia’s oil trade, shadow tanker fleet, banks, and supply chains that bring equipment or parts for making weapons.”

Officials say, however, that a push to lower a price cap on Russian oil exports has been shelved after Washington failed to back the push as part of a broader G7 initiative.

 


Ukraine, Russia exchange another group of POWs

Ukraine, Russia exchange another group of POWs
Updated 27 June 2025
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Ukraine, Russia exchange another group of POWs

Ukraine, Russia exchange another group of POWs

CHERNIGIV REGION, Ukraine: Ukraine and Russia exchanged a new group of captured soldiers on Thursday, the latest in a series of prisoner swaps agreed at peace talks in Istanbul earlier this month.

Neither side said how many prisoners were released in the latest exchange.

The two countries pledged to swap at least 1,000 soldiers each during their direct meeting in Istanbul on June 2 but no follow-up talks have been scheduled.

The return of prisoners of war and the repatriation of war dead have been among the few areas of cooperation between the warring sides since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022.

“Today, warriors of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, and the State Border Guard Service are returning home,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media.

He shared images of Ukrainian soldiers draped in blue-and-yellow national flags, smiling and tearfully embracing.

AFP reporters in Ukraine’s northern Chernigiv region saw relatives awaiting the prisoner release.

Some family members waved posters of missing or captured soldiers in the hope someone would recognize their loved ones and bring them news.

Svitlana Nosal learned her husband Viktor had been freed.

“It’s such a joy, I don’t know how to describe it, how to put it into words,” she said, laughing and crying in the late afternoon sun.

The majority of those released on Thursday were held captive for more than three years, according to Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

Many of them were taken prisoner in Mariupol, a Ukrainian port city that fell to Russian forces in 2022 following a nearly three-month siege, it said.

Russia said its soldiers had been transferred to Belarus and were receiving “psychological and medical care.”

“Another group of Russian servicemen has been returned from territory controlled by the Kyiv regime,” the defense ministry said in a statement.

It posted a video showing freed Russian soldiers draped in their national flag, chanting “Russia, Russia, Russia!“


UN climate chief warns ‘lot more to do’ before COP30

UN climate chief warns ‘lot more to do’ before COP30
Updated 27 June 2025
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UN climate chief warns ‘lot more to do’ before COP30

UN climate chief warns ‘lot more to do’ before COP30

BONN: UN climate chief Simon Stiell urged countries on Thursday to accelerate negotiations ahead of the COP30 in Brazil as there was a lot left to be done.

Speaking after two weeks of technical talks in Bonn, Stiell closed the annual climate diplomacy event saying: “We need to go further, faster, and fairer.”

Bonn is home to the UN Climate Change Secretariat, which coordinates international climate policy and hosts preparatory talks each year ahead of climate summits.

“I’m not going to sugar coat... we have a lot more to do before we meet again in Belem,” he said.

COP30 is due to be held on November 10-21 in the Amazonian city which is the capital of Para state.

At last year’s UN COP29 summit in Azerbaijan, rich nations agreed to increase climate finance to $300 billion a year by 2035, an amount decried as woefully inadequate.

Azerbaijan and Brazil, which is hosting this year’s COP30 conference, have launched an initiative to reduce the shortfall, with the expectation of “significant” contributions from international lenders.

This year’s COP comes as average global temperatures in the past two years have exceeded the 1.5 degrees Celsius benchmark set under the Paris climate accord a decade ago.

“There is so much more work to do to keep 1.5 alive, as science demands. We must find a way to get to the hard decisions sooner,” Stiell said.

Under the Paris Agreement, wealthy developed countries — those most responsible for global warming to date — are obliged to pay climate finance to poorer nations.

Other countries, most notably China, make voluntary contributions.