Key Points

Regarding the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC) Phase II (2021-2025):

• Though the APAEC 2016-2025 Phase I document relates global energy development trends with the climate change, the position of ASEAN energy cooperation relating to climate change can be enhanced in the APAEC Phase II document by including more concrete terms such as the “Paris Agreement”, “nationally determined contributions or NDCs”, “climate change mitigation”, “decarbonisation”, “low-carbon” and “GHG emissions reduction”.
• Though the theme of the APAEC 2016-2025 is largely relevant to the (Sustainable Development Goal 7” (SDG7), SDGs were not mentioned at all in the APAEC Phase I document. Therefore, the framework for SDGs should be included in the APAEC Phase II document, including how the ASEAN energy framework is in line with SDG7 on affordable and clean energy and SDG13 on climate action.
• The APAEC Phase I document lacks a clear descriptions of how domestic energy development at the national level will contribute to achieving the regional energy targets. The coherence of national and regional policies could be enhanced by monitoring the progress of the renewable energy (RE) and conservation and energy efficiency (EE&C) targets at the national level, which eventually will result in achieving the regional targets.

Regarding the 6th ASEAN Energy Outlook (AEO6):

• In addition to the scenarios that project the results of policy implementation, insights into the decarbonisation strategies which enhance the synergy between the energy and climate policies should be provided in the form of text boxes.
• In addition to EE&C and RE, ASEAN could consider establishing more quantitative targets from other programme areas of the APAEC to better project the policy impacts on emission reductions. This will enhance the analysis of the AEO in terms of assessing the policy implications of the energy-climate nexus.
• The gaps between the ASEAN Target Scenario (ATS) and ASEAN Progressive Scenario (APS) serve as good measures for assessing the coherence of the national and regional policies. Hence, these two scenarios should continue to be included in the AEO6.