Although their governments have set climate goals, Southeast Asian nations are not likely to accomplish these by 2023. According to a report by Bain and Company, Temasek, GenZero, and Amazon Web Services, Southeast Asia will need to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 33% in 2030 in order to achieve these targets.
Despite recent commitments to emission reduction targets from Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam, green investments in the region continued to decline, falling by 7% to US $5.2 billion in 2022. According to the report, the last three nations, which are among Southeast Asia’s highest emitters, run the risk of missing their goals.
The report estimates that a total investment of US $1.5 trillion will be required to achieve the 2030 goals.
The main cause of the downturn was a decline in foreign investments. Outside of Southeast Asia, investments decreased by 50% while rising by twice as much within the region. Up to 75% of the total funding went to renewable energy, with the majority going to Singapore and Indonesia.
The energy and environmental sectors, which account for 85% of Southeast Asia’s emission reduction targets, are the most crucial part of the region’s efforts due to their heavy reliance on fossil fuels.
However, the full potential of renewable energy in the area is not being realized due to factors like slow infrastructure approvals and ambiguous regulations. The region needs to better support and enforce conservation policies in order to achieve nature-based solutions, such as sustainable agriculture, land restoration, and protection, the report noted.
By 2030, the green economy could generate up to six million jobs in the manufacturing, operations, maintenance, and planning of clean energy infrastructure.
