Meet the environment defenders fighting for clean energy in Southeast Asia

(Eco Business, 7 Sep 2019) Harassment, death threats, kidnapping. It’s not easy campaigning for renewable energy in Southeast Asia. Eco-Business asked activists in Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam about the challenges they face fighting for a clean energy future.

What chance do clean energy activists in Southeast Asia stand in the only part of the world where coal is gaining share in the energy mix?

Coal-fired power generation is growing faster than every other source of energy in the region, and nowhere faster than Vietnam, where coal generation is expected to increase by 544 per cent between 2014 and 2030.

In Indonesia, coal is also experiencing a growth spurt, despite a national pledge to increase its renewable energy capacity to at least 23 per cent of the energy mix by 2025 in line with the Paris Agreement. 

The Philippines’ appetite for the world’s biggest source of man-made greenhouse gas emissions is predicted to overtake Indonesia’s over the next decade. By 2030, the archipelago will have the highest share of coal in Southeast Asia.

Eco-Business spoke with environmentalists on the frontline of action against fossil fuels in Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam and asked what it takes to champion clean energy in the world’s slowest region to adopt it.

External link

Eco Business, 7 Sep 2019: Meet the environment defenders fighting for clean energy in Southeast Asia