Impacts on local communities The Environmental Justice Atlas estimates that 3,000 people may be affected by the project. Potential impacts to those living in and around the construction zone include loss of livelihood, traditional knowledge and land. Small agricultural villages like Lubuk Napal and Pemusiran, immediately next to and nearby the proposed Jambi-2 site respectively, are already heavily affected by the existing coal mining industry. Thousands of trucks bringing coal to other plants hit and kill dozens of pedestrians each year on the two-lane highway in the area and cause gridlock which prevents villagers from accessing essential services (including causing deaths of some locals waiting to get to hospital). Water resources, previously potable and used for bathing, have been tarnished. The use of the extracted coal by Jambi-2 to create power will accentuate and lock in these impacts.

Loss of Indigenous peoples’ land and knowledge Small-scale crop cultivation and inter-community cooperation in land management are some examples of traditional land management practised by Indigenous populations in Jambi which have been disrupted by coal developments. The displacement of Indigenous peoples in Sumatra entailed in the proposed Jambi-2 coal-mine-and-power project would further jeopardise their land stewardship and practices.

Locking-in coal Jambi province has coal reserves which are being mined intensively. These reserves are vast, according to Jambi Province’s head of Mineral Resources: if mined at current rates (between 13 and 19 million metric tons per year), the reserves of 1.9 billion metric tons are projected to be depleted in 100 years. As a mine-mouth project, the Jambi-2 coal power station would burn these resources at the source from which they are extracted. Cancelling coal-fired power projects in rapidly growing economies like Indonesia is identified by some experts as the most urgent priority in stopping climate change. WALHI Jambi, the province’s branch of Indonesia’s largest environmental NGO, has identified significant opportunities for renewable energy alternatives to supply the province with energy. These include solar, wind, geothermal and small-scale hydroelectric projects. Building new coal power, rather than renewables, further perpetuates Indonesia’s coal dependence.

Destruction of critical ecosystems A World Bank blog points out that Jambi province in central Sumatra is “home to forests and peatlands that regulate water flows, store carbon, support biodiversity, and are lifelines for traditional communities such as the Talang Mamak, Orang Rimba, and Melayu peoples” but that “these rich landscapes are fast disappearing”, with emissions from land use change accounting for over 85% of the province’s emissions. Jambi-2’s development will undoubtedly entail further significant land-clearing, both to build the actual plant as well as accompanying infrastructure like transmission lines and roads.

Threatening endangered species Endangered species living in Jambi, like the Sumatran elephant, are increasingly threatened by the creeping loss of nature from industrialisation and land-use change. Industries like palm oil agribusiness and coal mining and power, like the proposed Jambi-2 project, are triggering this effect.