Happy New Year 2021!

A challenging and historical year has passed, as people persevered and embraced the changes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. ASEAN Climate Change and Energy Project (ACCEPT) is not an exception. We struggled to cope and adapt, optimizing online events, and collaborative efforts to advance our work on pursuing climate-friendly energy development in the region.

To kickstart our 2021 activities, please allow us to chronicle some of our 2020 year highlights. We could not have arrived at this point without your strong support, our esteemed stakeholders.

Navigating COVID-19 Impact on Energy and Climate Change in ASEAN

On March 11, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. It not only presents challenges towards public health but also disrupts other sectors, including energy and climate change. Quickly addressing these challenges, ACCEPT conducted a survey in March to sense public perception concerning the impact of COVID-19 on energy and climate change in ASEAN.

Along with that, ACCEPT created the COVID-19 page on our website which is dedicated to assisting policymakers and the public on the impact of COVID-19 on energy and climate change in ASEAN.

On it, ACCEPT compiled related news and analysed it into a series of quarterly publications on COVID-19 impacts on Electricity, Renewables, and Oil & Gas, among other articles. Beyond that, ACCEPT actively promotes public awareness through online webinars and events, such as “Launching Talk-Renewable Energy Outlook and the Challenge on Investment in ASEAN during COVID-19 Pandemic“, “COVID-19 and the Energy Sector: Policy Perspectives“, and “Discoursing the Impact of COVID-19 in ASEAN Electricity Sector“.

Official Recognition by the 38^th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting

As part of its mandate, ACCEPT works through the official inter-ministerial framework, culminating in the 38^th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM), which was hosted virtually by Viet Nam on 19 November 2020 under the theme “Energy Transition Towards Sustainable Development”.

As noted in the ACCEPT reportage about the 38^th AMEM, AMEM endorsed the inclusion of energy-climate nexus in the ASEAN energy cooperation blueprint for 2021-2025. The co-released 6^th ASEAN Energy Outlook also noted ACCEPT contribution on various fronts.

Collaboration Efforts to Serve as A Think Tank of Energy-Climate Issue in ASEAN

Over the year 2020, ACCEPT has been busy on research activities on the energy-climate nexus, published as policy briefs, insights, and academic papers.

• In May 2020, ACCEPT created Renewable Energy Investment Series provides suggestions on how to build the investment climate for renewable energy in each country: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
• Other top publications from ACCEPT:
  • 3 January 2020; A Review of RE Development and Its Policy under Nationally Determined Contributions in ASEAN
  • 20 May 2020; The Paris Agreement and the Energy Policies of the ASEAN Member States
  • 18 August 2020; COVID-19 Struggle Remains, But Countries Gear Up for Climate Action
  • 31 August 2020; Economic Assistance to Electricity Customer in the ASEAN Member States during the COVID-19 Pandemic
  • 11 December 2020; The ASEAN Climate and Energy Paradox

Realising the importance of collaboration, ACCEPT established a researchers’ network on energy and climate change, dubbed ARNECC. ACCEPT also invited researchers and experts to jointly develop research papers on energy and climate change in ASEAN. The latest round of such “Call for Interests” can be found on this page.

Also serving as a knowledge hub, ACCEPT collected interactive news related to energy and climate change in the AMS from various trusted media sources. Moreover, ACCEPT curated the list of  renewable energy and energy efficiency targets, the main climate mitigation actions, from each AMS.

Transforming Research Insights into Capacity and Awareness

ACCEPT is designed with full recognition of the critical role of dissemination. As such, ACCEPT also published various popular articles to ease the public on digesting insightful information through Op-Eds and Blogs.

• 8 March 2020; Women Roles in Energy-Climate Nexus
• 20 May 2020; A New Beginning for Electric Vehicle, and How Southeast Asia Could Jump in and Ride the Wave
• 20 May 2020: Energy Storage: Unlocking the Full Potential of Renewable Energy
• 29 May 2020; Efforts to develop a roadmap for achieving the mitigation goals under Vietnam’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) and beyond
• 5 June 2020, Energy-Climate Nexus #ForNature: Learn, Share, and Act!
• 16 July 2020; Energy-Climate Situation in Brunei Darussalam
• 3 August 2020; With the right measures, Southeast Asia could see a post-pandemic EV revolution
• 18 August 2020; Battery Recycling: Crucial Component for Energy Storage’s Circular Economy
• 30 October 2020; Potential Impacts of EV on Developing Countries’ Electricity Systems and How to Mitigate Them
• 27 November 2020; How Creative Industry Increases People’s Awareness on Climate Change

As an approach to improve the interactivity of dissemination and capacity building efforts, ACCEPT hosted various public and internal virtual events.

• In July 2020, ACCEPT held two public webinars, on the Energy Transition and the Cyber Challenges of Future Energy System and Climate Risk and Adaptation for 1.5^oC in Southeast Asia.
• Another public event series is “ACE Virtual FGD on Energy-Climate Nexus”. The series discussed a range of topic which you can discover below:
  • 13 October 2020; Carbon Pricing: An Energy-Climate Nexus Approach in Meeting the Paris Climate Goals
  • 10 November 2020; Net Zero: Pathway to Escalate the Energy Transition in ASEAN
  • 8 December 2020; Role of Energy in Raising the Ambition for NDC
• ACCEPT also continue its In-house sharing session in 2020 with six more events. Held between February and September 2020, ACCEPT internal session caught on several themes you can learn using the link below:
  • 27 February 2020; The Basic Climate Change Part 1
  • 27 March 2020; The Basics of Climate Change Part 2
  • 30 April 2020; Climate Change Governance: UNFCCC Bodies
  • 19 May 2020; International Agreements on Climate Change
  • 19 June 2020; COVID-19 Pandemic and Climate Crisis
  • 18 September 2020; Simulating Policy Scenarios to Reach the Paris Agreement Goals

ACCEPT also utilised various mediums in its dissemination activities. One of them is through video. First, most of the public events are recorded and can be found on the ACCEPT website. Further, ACCEPT also initiated 60 seconds Climate Insight series: 24 August 2020 on 60 Seconds Climate Insight Q2, and 4 November 2020 on 60 Seconds Climate Insight Q3.

Despite the challenges we had in 2020, 2021 would be an exciting year, a year to focus on accelerating post-pandemic recovery.

Brunei Darussalam, a tiny but rich nation with vast oil and gas deposits, is assuming the chairmanship of the ten-members of ASEAN. Under the theme, “We Care, We Prepare, We Prosper”, sustainable energy and climate change are among the focus of its Chairmanship.

Later this year, The COP26 summit will bring parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Synergising with these regional and global efforts, we thank you and we promise you a more impactful programme this year!