As most countries in South-east Asia are still developing and have relatively weak economic foundations, climate finance is necessary for the region to take climate action.
But the US$300 billion core amount was criticised as woefully insufficient by climate-vulnerable countries and civil society, who expected richer countries – who were historical emitters – to commit more. An aerial view shows submerged homes at a village in Ilagan, Isabela province in the Philippines on Nov 18 due to continuous heavy rains from Super Typhoon Man-yi. PHOTO: AFP
One of the region’s decades-long ambitions, the complex power interconnection will enable electricity trade across borders – for both energy security and access to greener energy.in 2022, which transmitted 100MW of hydropower from Laos to Singapore, via Malaysia and Thailand. This was later extended to include another 100MW from Malaysia’s electricity grid in October 2024, but this includes a mix of energy sources, including coal and natural gas.
“This is where climate finance can step in – by bridging these gaps, mitigating risks, and enabling investments that otherwise might not materialise,” he added. But while the Asean power grid is undoubtedly a worthy project, directing climate finance to it would not be straightforward, as it would be considered an electricity transmission project, said Mr Beni.
But South-east Asia is expected to continue its fast economic growth, accompanied by more greenhouse gas emissions, noted Dr Kim Jeong Won, a senior research fellow at ESI. Similarly, only 6.3 per cent of investments from the UN’s Adaptation Fund has been allocated to Asean countries, said Dr Kim. The proceeds from these bonds can be used for a wider range of decarbonisation projects, including those in hard-to-abate sectors such as steel, cement and petrochemicals.
Singapore is currently collaborating with more than 20 countries in carbon markets, including the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia. South-east Asia, which is home to the world’s third-largest tropical forest basin after the Amazon and the Congo, would have more incentives to protect it, if it were to receive carbon credits arising from nature-based projects.
“Considering Singapore’s position as a regional carbon trading hub, it should benefit from this early-stage excitement, with more project developers getting involved and capital flowing into carbon projects,” added Mr Levallois, who is also senior director at Chooose, a Norwegian company that helps airlines with their sustainable aviation fuel and carbon programmes.
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