Indonesia is predicted to become a ‘dumping ground’ country for conventional cars amidst the increasing push by developed countries to switch to electric cars.
In a report entitled Driving Change: How Electric Vehicles Can Rise in The Global South made by Carbon Tracker, Indonesia and 11 other countries in the southern region of the Earth.
This is based on the fact that car manufacturers around the world can no longer sell conventional cars in developed countries. Where developed countries have agreed to no longer sell conventional cars starting in 2035.
This is different from countries in the southern region of the Earth which have not yet taken an official stance on stopping sales of conventional cars in their region.
“In this context, southern countries could become dumping grounds for conventional cars because car manufacturers want to sell them in places that still allow this after 2035,” wrote the Carbon Tracker report quoted by El Pais, Sunday (26/11/2023) .
Ben Scott, an analyst from Carbon Tracker, said that these countries are predicted to be trapped in dependence on fossil fuels. This condition will make millions of countries dependent on other countries for fuel needs.
“These fuel imports result in large capital and foreign currency losses,” said Ben Scott.
Sadly, these countries actually spend billions of dollars every year to import transportation fuel. In Carbon Tracker’s view they also do not have the capacity to improve and ultimately worsen their trade balance.
From there, Ben Scott hopes that these countries can quickly switch to electric cars.
At a minimum ensure that they will not sell conventional cars again in the future.
According to Carbon Tracker, switching from conventional cars to electric cars in these countries can save transportation costs by around 50 percent. Equivalent to more than USD100 billion per year.
Apart from Indonesia, countries that are considered to have potential as landfill sites for conventional cars amidst the incessant transition to electric cars are Argentina, Mexico, India, Indonesia, South Africa, Uganda, Nigeria, Morocco, Kenya, Egypt and Algeria.