What the region must beware of in its pursuit of a fair and equitable energy transition
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has published three working group reports, reaffirming the indisputable fact that climate change is caused by human activities. We must accelerate climate action to limit temperature rises to well below 2 degrees Celsius, as required by the Paris Agreement.
CarbonCare InnoLab recently hosted a webinar, where 13 experts from the mainland, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, India, Taiwan and Hong Kong addressed the opportunities and challenges needed to achieve a just energy transition in Asia. While parts of Asia have formulated climate change mitigation policies, the decision-making process tends to be top-down, with less attention paid to the specifics of how to formulate and implement decarbonisation pathways.
Meanwhile, there is scepticism surrounding technological solutions to climate change, including the reactivation of nuclear power and the application of carbon removal. Even though new-energy technologies, such as green hydrogen, have great potential, they depend on the maturity of large-scale use of technologies and involves longer return on investment, higher costs and potential risks.
Also, consider the case of Jeju in South Korea. Not all the renewable energy that is produced there is being used even though it works as well as gas-fired power.
Instead, the grid operator has “curtailed”, or released, many hours of output of renewable energy, to avoid destabilising the existing power grid.
Elsewhere in South Korea, negotiation for early closure of coal-fired power plants has stalled because the government is avoiding the issue of compensation. Across Asia, how to negotiate a set of implementation guidelines and mechanisms for coal retirement will be a challenge that needs to be dealt with.
With regard to those who live in public housing and subdivided flats in Hong Kong, research suggests that redistribution of benefits, using the principles of openness, transparency and equality, should be applied to groups that benefit and suffer during the energy transition.
Finally, it is hoped that more investors in the region will consider a just transition, including principles like care for labour and community participation, as a core value in their energy investment decisions.
Kevin Li, researcher, CarbonCare InnoLab