Southeast Asia plans to decarbonize, with Japan providing financial support

Ministers from Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam agreed at a joint meeting to support decarbonization and ensure energy security. Japan has pledged financial and technological support to help the relatively poorer countries of Southeast Asia, which are members of ASEAN, meet their goals. It hopes to accelerate their efforts to decarbonize their economies and combat climate change.

In early March, ministers from the Asian Zero Emission Community (AZEC), which brings together Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, met in Tokyo. The 11 countries issued a joint statement pledging to work together towards carbon neutrality in Asia, where energy demand is growing rapidly.

However, the 2015 Paris climate agreement calls for global warming to remain “well below” 2°C above pre-industrial levels and, ideally, to be limited to 1.5°C. Asian countries are therefore looking for ways to meet rising demand in line with this commitment.