(MENAFN– EIN Presswire)
Based on energy sector financing and investments flows data from 13 selected Asian countries during the period 2016 to September 2022, the study culminates with two broad and overarching conclusions:
Asia is experiencing an ‘energy addition’ rather than an energy transition due to the slow uptake of climate and energy policies adopted by Asian policymakers, financial regulators, as well as banks and investors in Asia and beyond. This means that increasing volumes of renewable energy generating capacity are added to currently dirty and fossil-intensive grids, leading to no net change in global greenhouse gas emissions.
The ‘justice’ element of Asia’s prospective energy transition (or ‘addition,’ as argued above) is largely being overlooked and side-lined, particularly its implications for the most at-risk groups in society. Critically pertinent social considerations concerning decent jobs, gender inclusion, and indigenous rights, to name a few, are grossly omitted from national climate and energy policies, which suggests that whatever manifestation of an energy ‘addition’ or ‘transition’ that evolves has the potential to pose major and disadvantageous threats to under-privileged, under-resourced, and vulnerable minority groups across the region.
Linchpin nations for Asia’s energy transition assessed in the report – Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh, China, Malaysia, Singapore, and South Korea – remain heavily dependent on fossil fuels for power generation. On average, the 13 Asian countries assessed“depend on coal, oil, and natural gas to meet 77% of their electricity demands, with over half (seven out of ten) relying on fossil fuels for at least 80% of power generation.”
The report further underlines that financial institutions are responsible for contributing to Asia’s reliance on fossil fuels. On average,“renewable energy accounts for only 14% of Asian banks’ energy financing over the past six years…with no discernible upward trend.” Meanwhile, only 21% of all“outstanding energy investments” by Asian investors as of September 2022 supported renewable energy-based projects.
“Adding renewable energy alternatives alongside more coal-fired power plants will not limit global temperatures from rising above 1.5 degrees Celsius,” said Mr. Niall O’Connor, Centre Director, SEI Asia.“Without stronger government policies that chart a clear, inclusive, and equitable path from fossil fuels to renewables, Asia will continue to experience an ‘energy addition’, as opposed to a ‘just energy transition.’ The most vulnerable and under-privileged communities are already paying the greatest price.”
