Financing a Just Green Transition: Leveraging Critical Mineral Revenues and Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform for Health and Climate Equity in Indonesia
Grantholders
Dr Moh Shadiqur Rahman
Universitas Brawijaya, Indonesia
Prof Christopher Millett
Imperial College London, United Kingdom
Prof Sujarwoto Sujarwoto
Universitas Brawijaya, Indonesia
Dr Asri Maharani
University of Manchester, United Kingdom
Dr Paraskevi Seferidi
Imperial College London, United Kingdom
Dr Judite Gonçalves
Imperial College London, United Kingdom
Prof Arief Yusuf
Universitas Padjadjaran, Indonesia
Dr Tina Purwanti
Universitas Brawijaya, Indonesia
Project summary
This project aims to generate policy-relevant evidence on how taxing critical minerals and phasing out fossil fuel subsidies (FFS) can support a Just Green Transition in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), with a focus on Indonesia. While the shift to a low-carbon economy is essential, it risks entrenching inequalities and environmental harms unless well-designed fiscal policies mitigate and compensate for those harms. Indonesia, rich in nickel and other critical minerals essential for clean technologies, faces growing health and ecological risks from mining, while continuing to spend heavily on FFS. Mining taxes and FFS reform offer major revenue potential—but also complex trade-offs. This research will assess how revenues from these fiscal interventions can be redistributed to enhance climate, health, and socioeconomic outcomes. By co-producing policy scenarios with stakeholders and communities, we will identify fair and effective ways to tax/de-subsidise and invest. The project combines stakeholder co-production, policy mapping, impact evaluations, and modelling to produce an open-access policy database, tools for simulating policy impacts, and actionable recommendations. Findings will guide national and local policy in Indonesia and inform fiscal interventions across other transition-critical LMICs. Keywords: fiscal policy, critical minerals, fossil fuel subsidies, health equity, climate policy, policy modelling