As Asia heats up, leaders must look beyond domestic concerns and unite for climate

Asia’s energy needs are expected to increase in the future, but the road ahead is fraught with pitfalls as the region tries to wean itself off fossil fuels
Since every country can be affected by volatile weather patterns, sharing regional resources can be invaluable

Biman Mukherji

Published: 10:30am, 25 Aug 2023

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Deadly heatwaves and flash floods that destroyed homes and pushed up food prices sparked a summer of discontent across Asia. With two of the largest democracies, India and Indonesia, heading for polls next year, political leaders seem nervous.

During their independence days last week, leaders from both nations sounded caution. While Indonesia’s upper house speaker Bambang Soesatyo urged for poll postponement, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to ease the burden of global inflation.

After imposing a partial rice export ban that caused international prices to spike to 15-year-highs, New Delhi introduced a 40 per cent export duty on onions. Jakarta also forked out a hefty sum to stabilise prices and boost national food security.

It is clear protecting national interests alone will not suffice. Only coordinated regional responses can mitigate climate change’s impact

It is clear protecting national interests alone will not suffice. Only coordinated regional responses can mitigate climate change’s impact.

A G20 Energy Transitions Working Group, which met in India in July, failed to produce a joint communique, instead issuing a paper that disappointed climate researchers for its vagueness on phasing out fossil fuels and tripling of renewable energy production.

Since then, crude oil has climbed to US$85 per barrel from US$72 in June, tormenting Asian consumers who account for 70 per cent of global demand. Fortunately, regional leaders can make amends at a G20 ministerial meeting in Delhi next month.

The International Institute for Sustainable Development said in a report on Wednesday that G20 members poured in US$1.4 trillion to support fossil fuels in 2022, including subsidies worth US$1 trillion.

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This paints a bleak picture for a world ravaged by scorching fires and reminds us why major economies need to quickly set a green pathway. However, looming over the Delhi meeting are fears that China-India tensions, which escalated after a border dispute three years ago, could make the event a non-starter.

“If [the] India and China conflict plays out, then this whole G20 meeting will be dead in the water,” said Biswajit Dhar, a trade expert and a distinguished professor at the Council for Social Development, a Delhi-based research institution.

There are signs of a thaw between the sides. Indian and Chinese military officials, who met earlier this month, issued a joint statement to maintain peace in border areas, marking a toning down in rhetoric.

The two were also on the same page during the Brics meeting in South Africa this week when India said it fully supported China’s push for expansion to foundational bloc members – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

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This could pave the way for a coordinated, smoother transition to clean energy in the region. China is a world leader in renewables production, while the International Energy Agency says India’s programme is growing faster than any other major economy.

Unlike the West, Asia’s energy needs are expected to grow in the coming decades, but the road ahead is fraught with pitfalls. That was highlighted by the European Union’s recent proposal to impose a carbon tax on goods produced in countries with weaker carbon-pricing mechanisms.

Both China and India reacted angrily to the move, which could make their goods as well as that of other emerging nations uncompetitive. However, the region’s major economies will also need to shoulder a much larger responsibility to facilitate domestic mechanisms to price dirty energy.

It will be key to establishing a global framework and opening a path for future clean fuels like green hydrogen.

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“We need to level the playing field by pricing in carbon emissions; that is the key policy required before Green Hydrogen development will really scale up,” said Tim Buckley, director of think tank Climate Energy Finance.

Western nations have been reluctant to share their latest green technology with emerging nations, and China, India, South Korea and Japan can become the technology enabler, analysts said. Since every country can be affected by volatile weather patterns, sharing regional resources can be invaluable.

In a 1985 speech to the US Congress on climate change, astrophysicist Carl Sagan urged that nations will have to prepare for “a kind of trading off benefits and suffering and that requires a degree of international amity, which certainly does not exist today”.

After this year’s record-breaking heat spell, it is time for Asia’s leaders to heed the warning and come together on a common platform.

Biman Mukherji is a Senior Correspondent at the Post’s Asia desk