Highlights from the ASEAN Energy Transition Meeting

Exploring how the ASEAN region can pave its unique path to energy transition through strengthened regional collaboration, enhanced policy certainty, and innovative financing solutions.

Key Points

• ASEAN is now the world’s fourth-largest energy consumer, with demand rising at 3% annually.
• The region needs at least $200 billion in annual energy investments by 2030.
• ASEAN has an opportunity to chart its own course to decarbonization that’s rooted in regional collaboration.

As Southeast Asia’s economies surge, outpacing global growth and driving up energy demand, the need for a sustainable energy transition has never been clearer. Governments, businesses, and communities across the region are increasingly recognizing the importance of renewable energy sources, energy efficiency measures, and innovative technologies to meet this growing demand while minimizing environmental impact.

Investments in solar, wind, and hydropower are accelerating, alongside efforts to modernize energy infrastructure and implement policies that promote green growth.

However, challenges such as financing, regulatory frameworks, and ensuring equitable access to clean energy must be addressed to unlock the region’s full potential for a sustainable future.

The rising energy demand across the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) — comprising Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam — is driving economic prosperity while simultaneously increasing the region’s vulnerability to climate risks and greenhouse gas emissions.

“ASEAN is now the world’s fourth-largest energy consumer, with demand rising at 3% annually,” said Dato’ Sri Haji Fadillah Haji Yusof, Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation during the opening plenary of the Energy Transition Meeting in ASEAN on 24 May 2025.

Co-hosted by the World Economic Forum’s Centre for Energy and Materials and the Malaysia Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (MYCenter4IR), this meeting brought together 200 high-level leaders from government, business, academia and civil society to discuss the ASEAN energy transition. Attendees highlighted the need to accelerate ASEAN’s energy transition through actionable solutions – from industrial decarbonization and innovative financing to regional integration and green job creation.

Have you read?

Energy Transition Index 2025: Five strategies for a more resilient and competitive energy system

Source link