Webcast: Is Southeast Asia's Energy Transition In Favour of Renewables?

Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines have become ever more dependent on coal plants, whose construction to a large extent rely on foreign investments from Japan, China and South Korea. At the same time, Southeast Asia possesses extraordinary renewable energy resources, with many countries having already benefited from their falling costs. With the global investment landscape changing to minimize financial jeopardy from climate risks, what are the key energy trends emerging in Southeast Asia? What are the main dynamics to be observed in Southeast Asian countries? To what extent do these depend on European investments? Is Covid-19 accelerating the transition towards clean energy? And what are the main concerns and opportunities around renewable energy investments? To find out the answers to these and more questions, watch the webcast with the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis's (IEEFA) Sara Jane Ahmed and Natural Resources Defense Council's (NRDC) Han Chen.

Sara Jane Ahmed is an energy finance analyst for the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) in the Philippines. She is the author of several studies on island grid transition to renewables, coal stranded asset risk, rooftop solar and auctions. She is a former investment advisor specializing in originating and structuring energy opportunities in emerging markets.

Han Chen manages Natural Resources Defense Council's (NRDC) work to promote a global energy transition and address climate change at the international level—especially in key countries like the United States, China, India, and Canada. Her work covers the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations and implementation of the Paris Agreement, global financing and deployment of renewables, and limits to the expansion of high-carbon energy sources. Prior to joining NRDC, Chen was a researcher at the Brookings Institution. She holds a bachelor’s degree in international studies from American University and a master’s degree in international development from Beijing’s Tsinghua University.