The Asia-Pacific’s greenhouse gas emissions keep rising and in some respects the region is going backwards. Climate action was the only Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 13) in which outcomes went backwards in the Asia-Pacific between 2015 and 2023.

Climateworks is prioritising work with countries in Southeast Asia with high projected emissions growth, creating solutions that can be shared and scaled throughout the region.  Our approach focuses on partnerships, coalition building and capacity building.  In the past month, our work in the region has touched on all three of these areas, giving us opportunities to share solutions as well as learn from others championing the region’s decarbonisation.

Southeast Asia’s importance to the global goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius cannot be overstated.

A Climateworks project exploring ocean-based mitigation has secured the involvement of leading regional figures in marine science, climate policy and environmental economics.  Professor Luky Adrianto has been appointed as chair of the Indonesian stakeholder steering committee for Climateworks’ Southeast Asia Framework for Ocean Action in Mitigation (SEAFOAM) project. 

In the middle of the year, the Indonesian government will put its carbon tax into practice through a pilot program directed at coal-fired power plants, but it’s yet to be determined how much it will reduce Indonesia’s greenhouse emissions.

There is no lack of understanding in how such funds would be put to good use: Our Investment Vision Guide developed last year offers a template for how investment, once delivered, can be strategically applied.

Climateworks recently brought together an expert panel to discuss the outlook for ASEAN nations, given their key trading partners have all pledged to net-zero by mid-century.

Guntur Sutiyono is our Country Lead for Indonesia.Alin Halimatussadiah is LPEM-FEBUI Head of Environmental Economics Research Group.

Our international team has recently launched a series of discussion papers on low carbon opportunities in Southeast Asia.

Meg Argyriou, Climateworks Head of International Programs, and her team have been running and participating in panels and events around the world.

KADIN Net Zero Hub has signed a two-year MoU with Monash University, Indonesia and Climateworks Centre to build capacity within Indonesia’s private sector and to accelerate corporate commitment to net zero emissions.

The final report of the IPCC’s sixth assessment cycle shows we have the tools, but not much time, to keep the global goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C within reach The end of the IPCC’s sixth assessment cycle marks a crossroads for global climate ambition.

As a global player and a manufacturing hub experiencing economic growth, Vietnam can grasp the opportunities of the green economy by playing a central role in climate action, a briefing event has heard.

At the COP26 in Glasgow, most ASEAN member states renewed their decarbonisation commitments, with nine out of ten members committing to net zero targets.

Petra Christi recently joined Climateworks as a business analyst in our growing international program.