DELIVERING A ZERO CARBON ECONOMY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

This executive summary outlines the economic and environmental imperatives for Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam to transition toward a zero-carbon economy. It highlights the region's growing reliance on coal, the potential for renewable energy to create jobs and reduce import costs, and proposes a five-step framework for shifting financial flows toward low-carbon development.

• Southeast Asia is currently the only global region where the share of coal-fired power generation is increasing, with significant contributions from Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Projections for 2040 indicate that energy demand will rise by 66%, CO2 emissions will reach 2.4 gigatons, and fossil fuels will meet 75% of total energy demand, with 49GW of new coal power plants currently in the pipeline.
• Transitioning to renewable energy offers significant economic and health benefits. Investing in renewables could reduce the annual fossil fuel import bill from 300 million USD to 100 million USD by 2040 and create over 2.2 million jobs in Southeast Asia. Additionally, new solar PV is expected to be cheaper than new coal plants by 2021.
• The region faces severe environmental and health risks. Air pollution causes 60,000 deaths annually in Southeast Asia, and the Philippines has the world's 3rd highest mortality rate related to this. In terms of climate vulnerability (1998–2017 rankings for flood, extreme heat, drought, water, and food shortage), the Philippines ranks 5th, Vietnam 9th, and Indonesia 50th.
• The document proposes five steps to build a competitive zero-carbon economy: committing to carbon neutrality to build a modern economy; prioritizing the urgent adoption of energy efficiency solutions; easing the capacity to redirect capital flows into innovation and low-carbon strategies; providing an exit strategy for high-carbon assets and actors; and building institutions for long-term change.

APA

Sustainable Energy for All (n.d.). DELIVERING A ZERO CARBON ECONOMY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA. https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2019-12/SHIFT-SEA-Zero-Carbon-Economy.pdf

Chicago

Sustainable Energy for All. DELIVERING A ZERO CARBON ECONOMY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA. n.d. https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2019-12/SHIFT-SEA-Zero-Carbon-Economy.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Sustainable Energy for All |title=DELIVERING A ZERO CARBON ECONOMY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA |url=https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2019-12/SHIFT-SEA-Zero-Carbon-Economy.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sustainableenergyforallnddelivering, author = {{Sustainable Energy for All}}, title = {{DELIVERING A ZERO CARBON ECONOMY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA}}, institution = {Sustainable Energy for All}, url = {https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2019-12/SHIFT-SEA-Zero-Carbon-Economy.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }