Developing Asia is the driver of today's emissions intensive global economy. As the principle source of future emissions, the region is critical to the task of global climate change mitigation. Reflecting this global reality and a range of related domestic issues, the governments of the People's...

As the growth of energy demand outstrips that of energy supply in Southeast Asia, it becomes imperative for ASEAN member states to seek energy efficiency improvements for sustained energy security. While green buildings have an overall low penetration rate in ASEAN, when compared to the rest of...

Intense climate-related disasters - floods, storms, droughts, and heat waves - have been on the rise worldwide. At the same time and coupled with an increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, temperatures, on average, have been rising, and are becoming more variable and more...

Lack of cooling and cold-chain access is a critical development challenge that has significant implications for people's livelihoods, productivity, health, food, and nutritional security. While business-as-usual demand projections suggest 19 new cooling appliances will be sold every second by...

Sustainable Development Goal 15 deals with "Life on Land." Its nine targets and three means of implementation cover a vast array of environmentally sensitive issues related to land-based renewable natural resources. This paper explores the channels through which trade can address them....

The achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and implementation of the Paris Agreement will require significant new investment. New financial technologies ("fintech") offer the potential to unlock green finance technologies, such as blockchain, the Internet of Things and big data,...

Viet Nam's energy sector has made considerable strides in recent years in achieving high percentage of nationwide electrification and a relatively diversified energy mix that is dominated by hydropower, followed by gas and coal. However, sustaining those achievements including addressing...

Scaling up private investment in renewable energy is indispensable for achieving decarbonization of the global economy, low carbon transformation, and climate-resilient growth. As advocated by the United Nations, governments should create a level playing field for private investment in renewable...

The Republic of Korea fully launched its green finance scheme in 2009 and then introduced the environmental information disclosure system and the emission trading scheme in 2013 and 2015, respectively. However, their use has not increased dramatically, as the public sector has taken the major...

Mobilizing private finance for renewable energy and energy efficiency is critical for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) not only for the reduction of global temperature rise, but also for meeting fast growing energy demand. Two-thirds of green bonds issued in ASEAN countries...