SUSTAINABLE ENERGY TRANSITION
The actions by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will be critical to meeting the global environmental targets, she noted.
The region is the world’s fourth-largest energy consumer, and is still heavily dependent on fossil fuels.
However, she noted that eight out of the 10 ASEAN member states have set net-zero targets.
“There is a lot of clear ambition and political willingness to embrace the need to transition to a lower emissions economy,” said Ms Tan.
However, she stressed that in order to achieve a sustainable energy transition, governments have to work together to ensure energy security and affordability.
The IEA Regional Cooperation Centre, established in Singapore at the end of last year, works with countries in Southeast Asia and beyond to enhance energy security and accelerate clean energy transitions.
It is the IEA’s first office outside of its Paris headquarters.
On how the agency has been encouraging regional energy collaboration, Ms Tan said: “We (are) very, very new still, but some of the things that we’ve already started working on is talking to the key governments in the region about how best we can continue to support them in meeting their net emission goal, and in a way that’s also very secure.”
