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ASEAN electricity demand grew by approximately 50% between 2013 and 2023 and is projected to rise by up to 41% by 2030. While the IEA's Announced Pledges Scenario (APS) targets 100,000 km of transmission line expansion for Southeast Asia between 2021 and 2030, the combined plans of Indonesia, Viet Nam, Thailand, and the Philippines total 45,078 km, covering only about 45% of that target. The document argues that grid planning must shift from merely meeting peak demand to managing the intermittency of wind and solar power, which saw cost reductions of 55% and 85% respectively in the decade to 2020.

Between 2020 and 2024, climate change increased the number of 'pregnancy heat-risk days'—days exceeding the 95th percentile of local temperatures—in every analyzed country. In 90% of countries and 63% of cities, these risk days at least doubled compared to a world without climate change. The most significant increases occurred in developing regions, particularly the Caribbean, where 15 countries saw an average of at least 60 additional risk days annually, representing roughly one-fifth of a typical pregnancy. Beyond heat, the report notes that climate-driven air pollution, flooding, and infrastructure damage further threaten maternal health and birth outcomes.

The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) asserts that current debt restructuring mechanisms, such as the G20’s Common Framework, are insufficient because they treat indebtedness as a liquidity issue rather than a structural result of colonial legacies and trade imbalances. The paper advocates for a Global South Debtors’ Coalition to coordinate negotiations and collective economic planning, focusing on food sovereignty, energy independence, and industrial policy. It proposes a "Bargain of the Century" to leverage the Global South's resources and market size to secure fairer trade and technology transfers, particularly during South Africa's G20 Presidency.

The document examines the gap between legal frameworks and the actual implementation of environmental procedural rights in Southeast Asia. It identifies challenges such as ambiguous disclosure requirements, lack of enforcement in public participation during Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), and barriers to judicial remedies. The brief highlights community-driven alternatives like counter-EIAs and the role of legal networks in strengthening the judiciary to protect vulnerable groups and environmental defenders.

Southeast Asia is facing a potential surge in gas production, with 14 projects potentially reaching final investment decisions (FIDs) in 2025. If approved, these would add over 20 bcm/y of capacity, an 18% increase over current output. However, many projects have a history of delays, and the expansion threatens ecologically sensitive areas like the Coral Triangle and Mekong Delta. The report highlights contradictions between these extraction plans and the net-zero commitments of Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Brunei.

The document examines the transition to a sustainable bioeconomy in the tropics, focusing on the institutional, business, and technological environments of specific bioresources in Thailand, Kenya, and Colombia. It highlights a systemic gap where public policies prioritize economic growth and productivity over environmental and social sustainability, particularly for smallholder farmers. While Thailand leads in high-value bioproducts like bioplastics from cassava, it faces challenges with soil degradation and labor shortages. In contrast, Kenya and Colombia primarily use cassava for food security, with nascent industrial sectors. The paper also explores non-timber forest products (NTFPs), such as croton in Kenya and açaí in Colombia, noting that while they offer high value and conservation potential, they are hindered by complex regulatory permits and a lack of scaled investment. The authors recommend shifting from monocultures to sustainable production systems, strengthening smallholder cooperatives, and streamlining biodiversity regulations to ensure an inclusive and ecologically sound bioeconomy.

The document identifies significant gaps in the implementation of procedural rights necessary to uphold the right to a healthy environment (RtHE) in Southeast Asia. It highlights how ambiguous disclosure requirements, lack of enforcement in environmental impact assessments (EIAs), and resource-constrained judicial bodies hinder environmental justice. The brief showcases emerging community-led assessments and judicial capacity-building efforts as potential solutions, while noting the ASEAN Declaration on the Right to a Safe, Clean, Healthy, and Sustainable Environment as a key regional entry point for improvement.

Trend Asia warns that integrating biofuels into the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) Global Fuel Standard would drive catastrophic environmental and social damage. The statement highlights that food- and feed-based biofuels, particularly those promoted by Brazil, are linked to land grabbing, deforestation, and life-cycle emissions that can exceed those of fossil diesel. It calls for the IMO to instead prioritize energy efficiency, wind assistance, and demand reduction to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

The document highlights the critical role of Indigenous Peoples in Southeast Asia as environmental stewards, noting that their lands overlap with 40% of global protected areas and that deforestation rates on their lands in Southeast Asia are half those on other lands. It criticizes the ASEAN declaration on environmental rights for omitting Indigenous Peoples, arguing that this lack of recognition leads to 'development aggression,' criminalization of land defenders, and the erosion of traditional knowledge. The brief specifically notes the vulnerability of Indigenous women and the overlooked contributions of marine-based 'Sea Nomads.' It concludes by recommending that ASEAN and its Member States formally adopt the terminology and protections of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) to improve biodiversity and climate outcomes.

The US chemical industry, specifically the production of hydrogen, ammonia, methanol, ethylene, propylene, and benzene, accounts for a significant portion of industrial emissions. RMI identifies 20 emissions reduction levers, 10 of which are commercially viable today and could reduce sector emissions by 34%. With additional policy and infrastructure support, this near-term reduction could reach 48%. The report emphasizes that while supply-side interventions like carbon capture and methane leak mitigation are critical, they must be paired with demand-side measures and long-term innovation in electrification and alternative feedstocks to achieve a net-zero sector by 2050.

The document examines how land-use changes, specifically deforestation in the Gran Chaco region, correlate with increased rural land conflicts in Santiago del Estero, Argentina.

Mighty Earth's 2025 strategy focuses on decoupling agriculture from deforestation, ensuring sustainable state-backed development in Southeast Asia, and scaling finance for nature. The organization aims to leverage public distrust of corporations and passion for the environment to pressure the private sector, specifically targeting the automotive supply chain for decarbonized materials and promoting plant-based proteins to reduce methane emissions. Additionally, the group is pursuing continent-scale rewilding in North America, Asia, and Africa.

The document outlines the challenges of researching climate obstruction in restrictive political environments, focusing on participant safety, data security, and the navigation of political 'red lines'. It recommends flexible research designs, such as using snowball sampling and reframing sensitive topics, to mitigate risks associated with government surveillance and data manipulation in non-democratic states.

The report identifies opportunities to reduce direct emissions from the food, agriculture, and land use (FALU) sector in Southeast Asia by 1.9 billion tons of CO2-eq per year. It highlights that FALU is responsible for 54% of the region's total greenhouse gas emissions, with deforestation and peatland degradation acting as the primary drivers. The analysis emphasizes 'hotspots' where targeted interventions—such as protecting 20% of carbon-dense forests or improving rice cultivation on 20% of farms—can yield disproportionately high emissions savings. Key solutions include legal forest protection, non-continuous flooding in rice paddies, and improved nitrogen fertilizer management. The report also discusses indirect solutions like shifting diets toward the EAT-Lancet planetary health diet and reducing food loss and waste, while detailing co-benefits such as improved air quality, water security, and enhanced farmer incomes.

The document details the legal actions taken by a coalition of civil society organizations, including Trend Asia, WALHI, and Greenpeace Indonesia, against the Indonesian government's National Electricity General Plan (RUKN) and the Electricity Supply Business Plan (RUPTL). It argues that these plans ignore the escalating climate crisis—exemplified by Cyclone Senyar—and instead lock the country into fossil fuel dependency through the extension of coal-fired power plants (PLTU) and the use of biomass co-firing, which the authors claim drives deforestation. The coalition alleges that these policies violate multiple national laws and international commitments, such as the Paris Agreement, by failing to provide a clear coal phase-out roadmap and ignoring cheaper renewable energy alternatives.

Mighty Earth's 2024 review highlights significant private sector shifts, including JBS dropping 705 suppliers linked to deforestation and the postponement of JBS's IPO due to climate concerns. The organization also focused on expanding plant-based protein offerings among major retailers, challenging biomass policies in Japan, and launching a rewilding initiative for mountain lions in the Eastern United States.

The document argues that while 'ecological security' is not yet widely recognized in Southeast Asia, it is essential for addressing interconnected threats like the Mekong polycrisis, green transition externalities, and environmental crimes. It highlights the tension between security services and civil society, the influence of US-China competition on resource extraction and infrastructure, and the need for a holistic framework that bridges the gap between political-security and environmental specialists.

The report exposes how 400 banks and 400 investors provided billions in support for LNG expansion between 2021 and 2024, despite IEA warnings that no new export facilities are necessary for a 1.5C pathway. It highlights a significant gap between the net-zero pledges of financial institutions and their actual lending and investment practices, noting that most top funders lack effective LNG-specific policies. The document details the climate risks of methane leakage and the social impacts of LNG projects, while calling for a complete end to financial services for new LNG export and import terminals.

The report details the creation of a management tool designed to help agribusinesses align their operations with international responsible investment standards, specifically the CFS-RAI Principles and IFC Performance Standards. Through pilot testing with five companies in Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, and Senegal, the report identifies that RAI compliance is heavily influenced by a company's mission, the formality of its management systems, and external business conditions. While the tool was well-received for its 'language of business' approach, the report notes that resource constraints in smaller SMEs may hinder independent adoption, suggesting a need for support from investors and technical assistance providers.

The SEI strategy 2025–29 focuses on accelerating the implementation of climate and environmental goals through three primary impact areas: climate transitions, nature and resources, and health and wellbeing. The institute aims to move beyond goal-setting to action by boosting research on implementation, exploring emerging topics like critical raw materials and AI, and strengthening research-to-policy networks. Operationally, SEI seeks to enhance its 'One SEI' approach to integrate its distributed regional centres and diversify its funding to ensure financial resilience.