The People’s Vision for Regional Decarbonization in Southeast Asia

Picture: Devi Rahman/AFP

In an article by Fulcrum, Mirza Sadaqat Huda writes about how populations of the Southeast Asia perceive decarbonization and ultimately inform more effective policymaking among decision-makers.

The 42nd ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM) being held from 24-27 September in Vientiane is the highest policy making body in energy cooperation in the region. It plays a key role in politically endorsing and providing feedback and direction for the implementation of the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC) 2016-2025, the region’s blueprint for decarbonisation and energy integration.

A key component of the APAEC is the ASEAN Power Grid (APG) project, which aims to connect the national energy systems of the region. While it plays a necessary and important role, AMEM is the exclusive domain of political and bureaucratic elites. Thus, regional energy issues are for the most part far removed from considerations of the grassroots in Southeast Asia. A deeper understanding of grassroots perceptions can inform policy processes for driving the development of flexible and decentralised renewable energy systems that are sensitive to the needs of multiple sectors within the region’s communities.

Given this context, the 2024 Southeast Asia Climate Outlook gives insights into what Southeast Asian citizens think AMEM and other ASEAN bodies should prioritise in terms of decarbonisation efforts, and the associated challenges of transition. Some 2,931 Southeast Asian respondents from all ten ASEAN member states completed the survey from July to August 2024.

The survey shows that 48.4 per cent of regional respondents believe that the biggest priority for ASEAN in accelerating a clean energy transition is the development of regional energy infrastructures (Figure 1). Respondents from Indonesia (65.6%), Laos (50.7%) and Malaysia (50.2%) are more likely to recommend that ASEAN focus on regional infrastructures. These views show that opinions about the positive economic and environmental impact of interconnections are no longer confined to technical reports, but are at the forefront of how people envision regional decarbonisation efforts.