At a glance, Southeast Asia seems to be more and more a venue for opportunity and change.
In less than a week, the Philippines will open its doors to leaders of its neighboring Southeast Asian countries for the 30th ASEAN Summit and the celebration of 50 years of its existence. With the theme, “Partnering for Change, Engaging the World,” the Summit is set to express the region’s optimistic attitude towards a changing global landscape. Considering the economic strides the Southeast Asia has reached in recent years, with the region’s share of global GDP rising from 5.9% to 7.7%, it seems that such optimism is well-founded. And interested parties are taking notice.
Presently, energy investments are pouring in to supply the region’s growing energy demand. Reflecting strong economic and population growth, the International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that the ASEAN’s primary energy consumption will grow at an annual rate of 3% from 2014 to 2040, a rate which exceeds the combined present consumption of Japan and Korea. Coal is projected to have the largest growth in the region among the vast array of energy sources in the region, accounting for 34% of the overall primary energy demand. As of 2017, Southeast Asian nations - specifically Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Myanmar, Malaysia, and Cambodia - are among the top 30 countries with the most coal projects in the pipeline with a total wattage of 125,307MW or close to 15% of the total global coal plants in the pipeline. Here it seems as if the writing is on the wall: coal’s future is secured in Southeast Asia. One now wonders what that entails for the future of everything else.
It is easy not to share the optimism some find in Southeast Asia’s rising economy, especially considering the kind of development it is headed towards as reflected by its foreseen energy future. While being a significant part of the development of industrialized nations, emissions from coal have historically played a large part in the current climate crisis the world is facing, being among the leading causes of global warming with around 60% of the total fossil fuel burned coming from the coal industry. Southeast Asia is more than just a hotspot for coal projects in the pipeline; it is also a hotspot for climate vulnerability. With most of the people and much of the economic activity located along its coastlines, and with its peoples’ strong reliance on natural resources, agriculture and forestry, the threat of displacement, loss of life and destruction brought about by extreme weather events is a reality which Southeast Asians confront in a changing climate. To underscore this vulnerability, recent researches have put that due to climate change, 50% of fish catch in the region will drop by 2050 – where a large majority of dependent on marine resources are poor fishing communities in the region.
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Southeast Asia