Conference talks pathway to socially just energy transition in Asia

The event presented the findings of a comparative study project that FES carried out in eight Asian nations, namely India, the Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, China and Vietnam.

Deputy chief representative of the FES Vietnam Office Yvonne Blos said the governments of many Asian countries are in a dilemma as they have to meet the rising demand for electricity consumption and cut greenhouse gas emissions. With these issues, the countries’ energy structure is set to change greatly in the next few years.

To avoid an over dependence on fossil fuels, the transition to renewable energy development and efficient energy use is critically important, she added.

At the conference, delegates from the eight countries presented the main findings, mostly about their nations’ energy transition.

The Philippines targets renewable energy making up 50% of its total electricity output by 2030. It wants to increase power generation from renewable energy from 5GW in 2010 to 15GW in 2030.

Meanwhile, Vietnam plans to raise the rate of renewable and new energy sources to about 5% of total energy in 2020 and 11% in 2050.

The study’s authors claimed that energy transition can ensure social justice as it can enhance the quality of energy services, create jobs, modernise industry, boost economic efficiency and growth, improve environmental quality and reduce climate change. Therefore, a road map is needed towards socially just energy transition.

Countries should develop new long-term energy visions, improve State-owned enterprises’ transparency and competitiveness, and issue fiscal policies boosting renewable energy and energy efficiency, they wrote.

They also need to enhance renewable energy and energy efficiency capacity while accessing rural communities, the study group noted.