Indonesia is a megabiodiversity area and the island of Sumatra is the second
richest island in terms of biodiversity in Indonesia after Papua. The stability
of the ecosystem is important to support human life physically, biologically,
economically, and culturally.

The negative impact on local biodiversity has intensified with
the development of mine-mouth coal-fired power plants, which are already
operating in South Sumatra Province, and are also planned to be built in Jambi
and Riau provinces.

According to the sixth assessment report from the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), nature absorbs the majority of greenhouse
gas emissions (56%), therefore climate mitigation and biodiversity loss
prevention efforts need to be done in parallel. Discontinuation of coal-fired
power plants in megabiodiversity areas would make the Paris Agreement
goals and commitments in the Convention on Biological Diversity achievable
at low cost, provided that it does not exclude local residents and indigenous
peoples.

The results of this research can be used as a consideration for canceling the
new coal-fired power plants in Sumatra and developing renewable energy.
Furthermore, it can be a factor for the consideration of coal-fired power plants
that are included in the early termination scheme related to climate change.