No more fuel to the fire

Southeast Asian jurisdictions are experiencing surging energy demand and have increasingly come to rely on fossil fuel imports, leaving them exposed to supply shocks like those observed over 2021-2022. This report assesses the impacts of the evolving energy crisis on Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam and evaluates the governments’ policy responses with implications for their long-term energy transition outlook.

Momentum for the clean energy transition in all four countries is building. Yet, more ambitious policies are needed to offset energy demand growth and start displacing fossil fuel demand before 2030. The energy crisis underpins a need for increasing the pace of energy transitions in the region and points to three priority areas: accelerating fossil fuel phasedowns, frontloading investment in renewable energy technologies, and reserving a greater role for energy efficiency in the policy mix. Doing so will help countries move out of the crisis resiliently and come in better prepared for future energy shocks.

The report was developed by NewClimate Institute and Agora Energiewende with contributions from partners under the Clean, Affordable and Secure Energy program (CASE) for Southeast Asia.