Photo @Aaron Thomas on Unsplash 

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is the world’s fifth-largest regional economy, China’s second-largest trading partner, and a key area for promoting high-quality Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) cooperation. ASEAN’s rapid economic and social development has supported the sustained growth of energy and power demand, which has brought significant challenges to the environment and exacerbated climate change. Promoting a rapid low-carbon transition and positive response towards climate change in ASEAN countries is seen as a crucial avenue for supporting global progress on climate change. On September 28, NRDC and the BRI International Green Development Coalition (BRIGC) held an online seminar with Chinese and ASEAN country experts to discuss the potential challenges and key issues for achieving a green, low-carbon transition and carbon neutrality. Chinese experts from China International Capital Corporation and Electric Power Planning and Engineering Institute, ASEAN experts from the ASEAN Centre for Energy, as well as representatives of Indonesia, Myanmar, and Vietnam exchanged views on current energy policies, opportunities and challenges facing ASEAN countries in developing low carbon energy; and explored priority areas for supporting China-ASEAN cooperation on low-carbon development. The results of the discussion will help inform further exchanges, research topics, and matchmaking which can lead to concrete cooperation on low-carbon transition projects.