Southeast Asian countries face the complex challenge of providing affordable, accessible and secure supplies of energy while facilitating rapid decarbonization. Currently, 67 per cent of Southeast Asia’s electricity is generated from fossil fuels (ACE 2024) and the region is home to the world’s youngest coal power plant fleets. By 2040, Southeast Asia’s energy demand will reach 3,123 terawatt-hours—a threefold increase on current levels. If fossil fuels are used to meet future energy demand, the region’s CO2 emissions will increase by 2.5 times of existing levels to reach 4,171 million tonnes by 2040 (ACE 2021a). Unabated emissions from the energy sector will negatively impact Southeast Asia’s populations, economies and biodiversity ecosystems, as well as hamper global mitigation efforts.

Compounding Southeast Asia’s energy challenges is the region’s extreme vulnerability to climate change. Myanmar, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand are among the top ten countries in the world that were most affected by extreme weather events between 1999 and 2018 (ASEAN Secretariat 2021). In addition to exacerbating climatic impacts, the continued use of fossil fuels, particularly coal, will negatively affect the health of Southeast Asian citizens. Emissions from coal-fired power plants will increase the incidence of respiratory diseases and can potentially result in 69,660 annual excess deaths in the region by 2030 (Fossum Sagbakken et al. 2021; Koplitz et al. 2016).