The Executive Director of ASEAN Centre for Energy, Dr. Nuki Agya Utama, informed the current ASEAN collaboration with Norway partner on Energy Climate Nexus project namely ASEAN Climate Change and Energy Project phase II (ACCEPT phase II) to public. He highlighted that ACE is taken a part on working with Norway Institution Partner, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), to work together on implementing energy-climate activities to boost energy transition and carbon neutrality in the Southeast Asia countries.

● Dr. Nuki Agya Utama interviewed by Berita Satu, Indonesian Private Media on January 26th, 2023, highlighting on the ASEAN work on fighting climate change through pacing the energy transition process in the region through ACCEPT project.

● Berita Satu  highlighted ACCEPT-II’s work coverage, objectives and outputs, stakeholders that involved, and the way public can contribute to support ACCEPT-II goals to support ASEAN in moving towards a net zero future.

● The interviewed result is planned to be broadcasted on the Berita Satu’s news channel to help promoting ACCEPT-II project to the public.

The ASEAN Climate Change and Energy Phase 2 (ACCEPT-II) is continuously disseminating the project to gain more public attention. Media exposure is one of the keys to disseminate the project effectively. Thus, ACCEPT-II has invited Berita Satu to cover ACCEPT-II activities to public. On January 26th, 2023, Berita Satu interviewed the ACE’s Executive Director, Dr Nuki Agya Utama about ACCEPT-II.

In the beginning of the interview, Dr Nuki explained that ASEAN total GHG emissions is around 1,815 Mton CO2e in 2020. It was accounted that ASEAN countries may contribute around 5% of the global GHG emission. The ASEAN Energy Outlook (AEO) 7 projection under Business as Usual (BAU) informed that ASEAN total GHG emissions by 2050 was around 6,704 MtonCO2e or around four times higher than 2020. It was also found that the highest GHG contribution coming from power sector (58%), transportation sector (21%) and Industrial sector (18%). Based on this background, ACCEPT-II was established to design and develop related activities on energy-climate nexus in the region.

The Government of Norway reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening cooperation with ASEAN during the 7th meeting of ASEAN-Norway Joint Sectoral Cooperation Committee. At the meeting, Norway agreed to support ASEAN by continuing cooperation in the energy sector through ACCEPT-II which has been approved by Co-Charis from the ASEAN-Norway Joint Sectoral Cooperation Committee (AN-JSCC) dated 28 October 2022. The project is being implemented by the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) and the Norwegian Institute of

International Affairs (NUPI) for next four years from 2022 – 2026. The project aims to assist and accelerate ASEAN countries to make energy transitions faster and more efficiently to low-carbon energy systems to help the region achieve its carbon neutrality in the coming years.

ACCEPT-II has three outcomes. Outcome 1 focuses on sharing information on energy and climate relations among policy makers, increasing the coherence of energy and climate policies through policy-relevant studies and conducting science-policy-business forums and conferences. Outcome 2 focuses on increasing practical knowledge of policy makers and developing modelling of energy systems for a low carbon economy. Outcome 3 focuses on developing a regional knowledge centre on the energy climate with integrated outreach activities and promoting gender equality in the energy sector.

From policy makers side, government officials working on energy sector from the 10 ASEAN Member States is the main stakeholders to work with. Other involved stakeholders are academics or researchers from research institutes or universities, experts from industry, national or private companies, and also community leaders. International institutions such as the International Energy Agency (IEA), International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank and others are key sectors that help ACCEPT-II implement the project. The mentioned stakeholders can contribute by actively participating or collaborating with the ACCEPT team in conducting energy-climate nexus studies. In addition, the stakeholders could also register in ACCEPT’s database namely ASEAN Research Network on Energy and Climate Change (ARNECC). The database contains a regional database of researchers, experts or policy makers working on the energy and climate sector in ASEAN countries. Public or individuals can take part by joining any ACCEPT’s event, such as the regular webinar series. Students can join an ACCEPT internship program which aims to increase students’ understanding and get involved in any energy and climate issues across the region. To ensure the stakeholder or public involvement on the project implementation, ACCEPT team will periodically send all ACCEPT’s event information via ACCEPT and ACE websites, social media as well as using email to our subscribers.

ACCEPT II welcome all collaboration in energy and climate nexus, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]