Climate and Energy in Southeast Asia

This web-dossier explores climate and energy issues in Thailand and Southeast Asia. It contains analyses, features, research and other multimedia materials from regional experts, academics, journalists and our partners.

Unpacking the JET-P Pathway

On 6 and 9 February 2023, hbs Southeast Asia Regional Office and the Global Renewables Congress organized an Insight Roundtable on Just Energy Transition – Partnerships (JET-Ps). They brought together NGOs and policymakers to facilitate discussions on the potential, challenges, opportunities, and unanswered questions related to energy transition partnerships, to explore what investments and partnerships on just energy transition could or should mean for the Southeast Asian region.

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A Call for Energy Justice in Southeast Asia

Article

Southeast Asia’s energy transition needs not only to be accelerated in terms of technology deployments but also to be processed and accomplished justly. Doing so requires hinging the region’s energy transition plans and activities to the distributive, recognition, procedural, and restorative tenets of justice.

By Laurence L. Delina

Advancing Just Energy Transition in the ASEAN

This paper proposes the following recommendations to address the adverse effects of climate change in the ASEAN: decarbonising the ASEAN by accelerating decarbonisation by 2030; promoting market reforms to enable fair and open competition for energy generation; committing to no more new coal and introducing comparable support for renewable energy; and ensuring a human-centered energy transition in the ASEAN toward a community-focused, equal sharing of benefits and risks and the empowerment of community-owned energy systems.

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Loss and Damage: Perspectives from Southeast Asia

Policy Brief

According to the Global Climate Risk Index, among the top ten countries at risk to climate-related extreme weather events, three (3) countries are from Southeast Asia (Myanmar, Philippines, and Thailand). As these climate hazards increase in intensity, outweighing the ability of vulnerable groups and communities to adapt, losses and damages will also increase.

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A call for ASEAN’s energy transition to be just

This article was first published on The Phnom Penh Post on 9 November 2022 <https://phnompenhpost.com/opinion/call-aseans-energy-transition-be-just>

Based on regional consultation* with partners who are CSOs and experts from across Southeast Asia, OXFAM believes ASEAN member states have an opportunity to ‘’super-charge’’ an energy transition that provides energy security and is inclusive and just. We recognise the significant challenges with high population growth, some of the world’s most dynamic growing economies and fastest energy demand and widening inequalities between people and between states. Within ASEAN 29 million people still lack access to electricity and 219 million cook with solid biofuels. The regional consultation, bringing together CSOs across the region, is co-organized by hbs Southeast Asia Regional Office, together with Oxfam Mekong Water Governance Program.

Charting a Path Forward in ASEAN’s Climate Change Agenda

Article

As the world grapples with the pressing and existential threat of climate change, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) needs to take more immediate action. While the agriculture sector has discussed the outcomes of COP27 in Bangkok held in December 2022, ASEAN as a body has remained conspicuously silent on its views on the outcomes of the COP27 (e.g., the Loss and Damage financial facility), its implications for Southeast Asia, and what the region should prioritize for COP28.

By Albert Salamanca

Plugging Singapore into the ASEAN Power Grid

Building Resilience across Southeast Asia

Climate Change and Disasters in the Philippines

Decarbonization, the Southeast Asian Way

New Energy Ecosystem Can Aggravate Existing Inequalities If Gender Gap Is Not Addressed

Gender and Climate Change: Snapshots from Southeast Asia

“It’s a clear signal that the Asian Development Bank is finally, finally moving away from coal.”

COVID-19 Stimulus and Improving Energy Transition in Malaysia: Analysis and Recommendation

This research examines Malaysia’s COVID-19 economic recovery plans and the extent to which they support a socially just, clean energy transition in the country. Despite government acknowledgement that a sustainable recovery can help transition to a climate resilient economy, provide jobs, and improve productivity, the study finds that the proportion of financing given to green initiatives in Malaysia’s pandemic stimulus packages is limited.

Think Global Act Local: Exploring the Role of Community Renewable Energy in National Achievement of an Inclusive, Just Energy Transition

In this paper, we argue that renewable energy offers more than simply technological benefits to the energy sector; it also offers an opportunity for distributed energy resources (mini-grids, roof top solar) and community ownership and management of energy resources to advance national power development agendas. We draw on case studies from Cambodia and Vietnam to demonstrate that decentralized renewable energy options can provide rural communities with clean and affordable electricity that also offer a range of social, economic, environmental, technological and political benefits.

Community Mobilization for Energy Security: A Case Study of the Danu Self-Administered Zone in Myanmar

Myanmar’s energy planning is highly centralized. The state-managed energy infrastructure has struggled to meet growing demand for electricity and connect populations living in remote regions to the national electricity grid. The 2021 military coup has further undermined the centralized energy system. This paper highlights ongoing exclusions in energy access and evaluates the limitations of centralized electrification, before turning to examine the viability of decentralized offgrid energy options in Myanmar.

Sustainable Energy from an Unsustainable Source: The Need for Safeguards in Manganese Extraction for Renewable Energy in Indonesia

Manganese mining is one of the key elements for innovative development of renewable energy. While low-carbon energy innovations are certainly needed, the sustainability aspects of mining must be taken into account in the search for raw materials. However, existing mining operations are alarming due to their social and environmental impacts.

Unpacking COP24 and its implications for Southeast Asia

COP23 Bonn: The Climate Commitments and ASEAN

COP 21 and the Paris Agreement: A Force Awakened

An Assessment of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of the States of Southeast Asia

This assessment aims to present a brief analysis of the NDCs of each state in Southeast Asia and provides insight into how a future ‘decarbonized’ region might look like.

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An Assessment of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) In-depth Country Focus

This assessment aims to present an analysis of three Southeast Asian states’ NDCs, namely Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand, thereby providing insight into how a future ‘decarbonized’ picture might look like in these countries.

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Coal Assets Stranded in Southeast Asia

Bangui Mills, Ilocos Norte, the Philippines

Southeast Asia: Hotspot for Renewables or Dumping Ground for Coal?

Energy Transition in Southeast Asia and Vietnam's Role as ASEAN Chair 2020

Irene Barlian - Climate Visuals Countdown.jpg

Code Red for Southeast Asia: ASEAN’s Climate and Energy Challenge

Article

The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change outlines the urgency for ASEAN countries to respond, individually and collectively. Though the COVID-19 pandemic has captured resources and attention, commitments to addressing climate change will lead to longer-term resilience for the region.

By Denise Fontanilla

Renewable Energy in ASEAN

Exposing the “Clean Energy” Myths of ADB and AIIB

ADB Announces Coal Exit in Draft Energy Policy

Sustainable Electricity Scenarios in Southern Thailand and the Lower Mekong Countries

The Coal Situation in Thailand and Strategic Environmental Assessment

Short and Long-Term Solutions to Bangkok’s Ever-Growing Vulnerability to Floods and Other Climate Risks

Article

Ten years ago, Thailand faced its worst ever flooding which killed over 800 and caused over US$45 billion in damage. The floods inundated large swathes of Bangkok and the surrounding areas for two months. This year Thailand once again experienced widespread flooding, affecting over one million and killing nine people.

By Danny Marks

Building Climate Resilience in Southeast Asian Secondary Cities

Article

Southeast Asia is urbanizing rapidly, with cities in the region growing five times faster than in other regions of the world. As in most of Asia, urban growth in the region in the coming decades is projected to occur mainly in smaller urban centres. These cities, however are often highly vulnerable to the risks posed by climate change, particularly floods, droughts, and sea-level rise, because of their geographical locations.

By Danny Marks

Nuclear Power Trend in Southeast Asia and Its Contested Discourses on Climate Change

Article

Currently, there is no nuclear power station that operating commercial electricity in Southeast Asian countries. However, pro-nuclear comes up with many reasons aiming to materialize the nuclear power which ranging from growing of domestic power demand to boost economic activities, reducing the electricity cost – in the case of the Philippines[3], to producing no Green House Gases emission, in particularly CO2.

By Tipakson Manpati

Should Nuclear Power Have a Future in Thailand?

Why Go Nuclear, Philippines?

Voices from Thai Local Communities: Nuclear Is Not the Option for Thailand

Climate of Change: The Struggle for Renewable Energy in Southeast Asia

at Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Berlin, November 8, 2017

Nguy Thi Khanh, GreenID, Vietnam, Suphakit Nuntavorakarn, Healthy Public Policy Foundation, Thailand, Kyi Phyo, Mekong Energy and Ecology Network, Myanmar

Moderation: Richard Fuchs, Journalist