This volume is an attempt to provide a multifaceted overview of Southeast Asia’s efforts towards decarbonization and the associated challenges that impede progress. The chapters highlight some progress made by countries in the region in terms of financing renewable energy and facilitating energy trade. Regional countries have developed policies that aim to accelerate decarbonization in a just and equitable manner and incorporate the use of new technologies in mitigation efforts. However, the in-depth critique of regional decarbonization efforts by the contributors of this volume reveals the inadequacy of the current pace of progress in meeting renewable energy targets, and the shortcomings of existing domestic frameworks to address the social, environmental and political challenges of decarbonization. In addition, significant gaps between policy and implementation—resulting from the lack of capacity, poor governance, and political challenges—remain.

The slow rate of progress on decarbonization is concerning, but it does not invalidate the goal of developing environmentally sustainable economies in Southeast Asia. Decarbonization and energy transition are nonlinear processes that are likely to be impeded by socio-political resistance as well as economic and technical limitations, while also being facilitated by international and domestic mobilization of climate finance, technical innovation and increasing political will to fast-track mitigation efforts. Accelerating decarbonization in a dynamic environment marked by simultaneous and often contradictory flows of progress and backtracking requires identifying key intervention points that can have a significant influence on the future development of energy systems (Kanger, Sovacool, and Noorkõiv 2020; Huda 2024).