As the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) aims to create a single market integration in Southeast Asia, rising energy demand arising from rapid economic growth will need to be addressed. According to the 6th ASEAN Energy Outlook, ASEAN’s energy demand will increase substantially by 146 percent by 2040. Aside from energy security issues, the aftermath of this rising energy demand is the increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, potentially reaching 4,171 Mt CO2-eq in 2040.

Global energy transition has crossed many milestones over the past decade, surpassing most expectations. Thanks to technological innovation, entrepreneurship and risk-taking by policymakers and businesses, installed capacity has grown sevenfold for solar PV, and threefold for onshore wind since 2010. Once considered a pipedream, the share of renewable energy in the electricity mix is higher than fossil fuels in some countries.

At the United Nations (UN) General Assembly this September, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that China aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. Given that China has been the planet’s single-largest source of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in recent years – accounting for about 30 percent – decarbonisation there could contribute substantially to the global effort to mitigate climate change. China, of course, will have to rebalance its economy.

In March last year, the World Economic Forum (WEF) launched the fifth edition of their Energy Transition Index (ETI), ranking 115 economies on how well they are able to balance energy security and access with environmental sustainability and affordability.

Yesterday, the World Economic Forum (WEF) launched the fifth edition of their Energy Transition Index (ETI), ranking 115 economies on how well they are able to balance energy security and access with environmental sustainability and affordability.