Southeast Asia Energy Transition Partnership is launched

The ETP will begin its first five-year implementation period from 20 November 2020, with UNOPS serving as its fund manager and host of its secretariat. The partnership aims to support sustainable energy transition in Southeast Asia in line with the Paris Agreement, with an initial focus on Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines – countries with significant coal consumption. A technical advisory board will be set up in the coming months, combining international and local expertise and country representatives to advise the partnership in its technical work.

The innovative consortium was first announced at the One Planet Summit in 2018 by the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), the French Development Agency (AFD), Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), and the High Tide Foundation together with additional partners such as the Government of Canada, the United Kingdom’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), Bloomberg Philanthropies and others. Since then the Partners invested significant efforts in the design of this unique partnership that brings together public and private sectors, as highlighted at the High Level Forum at the 2019 Climate Summit of the United Nations Secretary General.

Southeast Asia's economic growth has generated new opportunities, raising the standard of living for many across the region. However, this has come at a high cost, as the growth was largely fuelled by an enormous increase in the use of fossil fuels, leading to steeply rising greenhouse gas emissions, persistent environmental pollution, local health risks and exacerbated climate vulnerabilities worldwide.

The ETP seeks to partner with governments and implementers to harness vast untapped potential of renewable energy to be integrated into the energy mix for Southeast Asia to meet the rapidly growing demand for energy in the region. It also will pursue the significant opportunities that energy efficiency measures offer as well as the socio-economic opportunities and benefits associated with a sustainable and just energy transition in Southeast Asia. With financial support for technical assistance projects, aligned with ongoing programmes in the region, the ETP will offer support packages and co-ordination, dialogue and knowledge expansion to boost leadership in and financing for energy transition in the region, aimed at achieving the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The multi-donor partnership foresees further growth and the members of ETP invite interested donors to join the initiative to achieve a greater impact through accelerated energy transition in the Southeast Asian region.

Read the article online at: https://www.energyglobal.com/special-reports/20112020/southeast-asia-energy-transition-partnership-is-launched/