APEC urged to invest in climate change
Like other parts of the world, Asia Pacific is not spared from the economic threats of climate change, compelling United States President Barack Obama to stress that more investments in cleaner energy must be put in place in the region.
Instead of focusing on other issues like trade and financial inclusion, which are the two main hot topics that have been constantly discussed in Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings that are now being held in Manila, Obama tried to shift the attention to climate change.
During his dialogue with Sustainable Alternative Lighting (SALt) founder Aisa Mijeno of the Philippines and Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma on the same event, the US president also mentioned the importance of small companies coming up with products that can be of big help in resolving the issues of climate change.
“Asia is the perfect example of what we are seeing in a lot of countries, young entrepreneurs coming up with leapfrog technology. But the point is they did not have to make some massive infrastructure investments. It raises the issue of how we can do more in supporting the young entrepreneurs, how can both government and larger companies be assisting in creating a foundation that supports young entrepreneurs,” Obama said.
While it may seem that small renewable energy (RE) companies are already sprouting across the region, it has been pointed out in the dialogue that firms like SALt are still facing major challenges.
Ma, for instance, believes that the governments should make the regulatory environment friendlier to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
“Government should reduce or (impose) no tax for these guys,” Ma said.
Obama agreed to this, saying that all the governments should provide tax incentives for the production of clean energy.
He also highlighted the need for the governments and the private sector to put more focus on supporting companies like SALt, a Filipino company that produces lamps that run on saltwater.
For Mijeno, it is more on the issue of getting technical guidance on scaling up her business as well as securing more funding.
“What we need is like a support system because we have the passion. What we need is support from the government and private sector to mentor us, guide us in scaling up our products to make it a bigger project,” Mijeno said.
“We also need a lot of support in terms of funding, that’s our main challenge right now. We are on a critical phase right now.
We are trying to mass produce the lamps. We are looking for someone to fund us to get the project moving,” she added.
Ultimately, Ma emphasized that it’s already “too late to complain whose fault” why there are so much loopholes in dealing with climate change and accommodating more investments in cleaner energy.
“Whether your fault, his fault, let’s solve the problem together. It’s the combination of work of government, private sector, scientist, and the entrepreneurs. We all have to get things done. The thing is how we can work more efficiently,” Ma said.
“Scientist will tell us how to do things properly, business should tell us how to get things done, and the government should provide the good environment and foundation for us,” she further said.