New Report | China’s Cooperation with Southeast Asia to Support More Ambitious Clean Energy Transition by 2030
NEW YORK, NY; March 20, 2024 – The Asia Society Policy Institute has issued a new report charting a course for China’s support of vast renewable energy investment in Southeast Asia. "China’s Cooperation with Southeast Asia to Support More Ambitious Clean Energy Transition by 2030" is drawn from a series of expert convenings in 2023, outlining a strategy to maximize the developmental impact of Chinese investment while ensuring synergy with existing regional initiatives and programs.
The report cites current limitations in investment and infrastructure that could hamper the considerable promise of Southeast Asia's shift towards clean energy. Enhanced private sector involvement and amplified development finance that could trigger private investment, the report notes, has been stifled by inadequate grid infrastructure, complex land acquisition, and non-transparent permitting processes.
To address these current barriers, the report outlines a cohesive vision for Southeast Asia's energy sector – the “Clean Prosperity Plan (CPP)” –a set of strategic recommendations that are designed to stimulate socioeconomic prosperity and climate security in the region. Emphasizing immediate implementation, the plan focuses on leveraging industrial demand for clean energy and the potential of green industrialization. By proposing practical, project-oriented solutions backed by policy support and international assistance, the CPP aims to circumvent the complexities often associated with deeper reforms, thereby facilitating quicker, impactful results such as increased investment and job creation, setting in motion a virtuous cycle of early success and heightened ambitions.
The CPP is underpinned by three key levers of action:
- Repower: Clean Southeast Asia’s industrial sector, targeting the transformation of Southeast Asia’s industrial sector through green electrification, pushing for the development and integration of carbon pricing, customized technology solutions, and financing facilities dedicated to these technologies.
- Rebuild: Promote the expansion of clean supply chains in the region by fostering their growth, capitalizing on the region's rich reserves of critical minerals, and establishing projects to bolster domestic manufacturing and green industrialization.
- Revamp: Deepen local capital markets by encouraging the uptake of green finance initiatives and facilitating dialogues between investors and financial institutions to unlock opportunities for clean energy projects.
The report underscores the crucial role that comprehensive cooperation and strategic financial, technical, and policy alignment between China and Southeast Asia will play in achieving a more ambitious clean energy transition by 2030.
Read the full report here. To find out more about the report, email [email protected].