Winds of Change : East Asia's Sustainable Energy Future

This report examines East Asia's energy future over the next two decades through two energy scenarios. It outlines the strategic direction of East Asia's energy sector to meet its growing energy demand in an environmentally sustainable manner, and presents a pathway of policy frameworks and financing mechanisms to get there. The report concluded that it is within the reach for East Asia to stabilize CO2 emissions by 2025, improve local environment, and enhance energy security, without compromising economic growth, through large-scale deployment of energy efficiency and low-carbon technologies. It is in developing countries' interests to get onto the sustainable energy path. To achieve these goals requires that the governments in the region take immediate action to transform their energy sectors toward much higher energy efficiency and more widespread use of low-carbon technologies. The window of opportunity is closing fast, as delaying action would lock the region into a long-lasting high-carbon infrastructure. This shift requires major domestic policy and institutional reforms. The first step is to improve energy efficiency, which requires a mix of energy pricing reforms, regulations such as energy efficiency standards, and financial incentives are required to overcome the market barriers. The second step is to scale up renewable energy, which needs to provide financial incentive policies for renewable energy such as feed-in tariffs or tax on fossil fuels. Furthermore, accelerated research and development are important for innovation and new technologies. Finally, building low-carbon cities is essential to contain the rapid urban energy growth through compact urban design, public transport, clean vehicles, and green buildings. These countries cannot do it alone. Developed countries need to transfer substantial financing and low-carbon