Energy Transitions And Climate Change Issues In Asia

This book covers critical debates on policies, markets and emerging issues that shape renewable energy transition in the Asian region, which is fast becoming an epicenter of the global energy consumption. The chapters focus on domestic policies, geopolitics, technology landscape and governance structure pertaining to the development of renewable energy in different Asian countries ranging from China to the Middle East. The book presents an insightful view of the pace and magnitude of the energy transition. It presents critical steps countries are taking to promote affordable and clean energy (SDG 7) as well as strengthening climate mitigation actions (SDG 13). In addition, this book introduces the concept of co-innovation---a collaborative and iterative approach to jointly innovate, manufacture and scale up low-carbon technologies---and its role in promoting energy transition in Asia. Chapter 8 (Renewable energy deployment to stimulate energy transition in the Gulf Cooperation Council) is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This open access book explores climate change impacts, adaptation, and mitigation in Central Asia and discusses policy options for the Central Asian governments. To address the urgent need for local scholarship on climate change in Central Asia, and in particular the need for more research by social scientists, this book features a wide range of contributions on climate change impacts, adaptation and mitigation in the region. Each chapter makes an important contribution to social science scholarship on climate change and decarbonization in Central Asia. Topics include decarbonization opportunities, carbon pricing instruments, the geo-economics of the energy transition, the relationship between human mobility and climate change. The book thus offers valuable insights for both academics and policymakers.

With South Asia's growing energy demand, governments in the region are facing the short-term pressures of facilitating energy access, while attempting to formulate long-term sustainable strategies. This book explores how the key economies of South Asia are addressing issues such as the diversification of energy consumption profiles and import sources, investments in renewables, enabling universal energy access, challenges to regional energy cooperation, greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, and the policy changes that can foster bilateral and multilateral action.As governments seek to ensure access to affordable, reliable, secure, sustainable and modern energy, trends and drivers are emerging and shaping the South Asian energy landscape. The first section of the book examines energy trends at the regional level, while the second section focuses on the internal and external challenges faced by India — the largest energy consumer in the region and the third-largest energy consumer in the world.The diverse perspectives in this volume provide a holistic snapshot of South Asia's ongoing low-carbon energy transition, and highlight the importance of the region working collectively to navigate the many obstacles.

Asian and European countries have adopted different approaches to the conflicting priorities of economic growth and low carbon emissions. In this volume – based on the revised versions of papers presented at the 24th International Euro-Asia Research Conference held in 2019 – the contrasts between the schools of thought of each continent are explored thoroughly. Ranging from topics as diverse as city logistics, shareholder value and management practices, the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement, Chinas geopolitical insights, sustainable agricultural development in India and the empowerment of women in Vietnam via microfinance, this book addresses sustainable development policies in China and Southeast Asia from many different perspectives.

Asian countries are among the largest contributors to climate change. China, India, Japan and South Korea are among the top ten largest carbon emitters in the world, with South Korea, Japan and Taiwan also some of the largest on a per capita basis. At the same time, many Asian countries, notably India, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines and Thailand are among those most affected by climate change, in terms of economic losses attributed to climate-related disasters. Asia is an extremely diverse region, in terms of the political regimes of its constituent countries, and of their level of development and the nature of their civil societies. As such, its countries are producing a wide range of governance approaches to climate change. Covering the diversity of climate change governance in Asia, this book presents cosmopolitan governance from the perspective of urban and rural communities, local and central governments, state-society relations and international relations. In doing so it offers both a valuable overview of individual Asian countries’ approaches to climate change governance, and a series of case studies for finding solutions to climate change challenges.

The future of China, India and Asia’s other emerging economies and their ability to take a ‘low-carbon’ and ‘climate-resilient’ development path determine the future of global carbon emissions and climate change. Indeed, the battle to confront global climate change will be won or lost in Asia. The transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy (LCE), which involves many steps towards improved energy efficiency, alternative energy sources and transport systems, sustainable land use, eco-friendly consumption and proactive adaptation, may be regarded as the world's fourth revolution, after the industrial revolution, agricultural revolution, and the information revolution. Asia is highly vulnerable to impacts of climate change. Yet because of its dynamic economies and massive populations, Asia offers the greatest opportunity for overcoming the trade-offs and pursuing low-carbon development pathways. With a growing consensus that there is limited time to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, scientists, engineers, policymakers, and economists across Asia have recently begun discussions on how Asia can make a transition to LCE. Most discussions, however, focused on transfer of technologies from developed to developing countries and overlooked other equally important challenges such as financing, governance, and information dissemination. This book is the first to look at these neglected aspects of LCE and attempt to integrate both market-based and technology-based solutions into a comprehensive strategy to creating a roadmap for LCE in Asia. This book is an essential reading for economists, policy makers, practitioners, engineers and researchers concerned with climate change, energy production and development in Asia and the impacts and potential for the world.

This book provides several up-to-date empirical policy-oriented studies on assessing the impacts of climate change on various economic sectors and the role of renewable energy resources in mitigating pollution and climate change. It suggests various policy recommendations on how to increase the share of renewable energy resources in the energy baskets of the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the rest of the world to ensure energy sustainability. As of 2020, most of the world’s energy investment still went to carbon-emitting sources, namely, fossil fuels. On the other hand, the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic Project Overview 20 March 2021 08:39 Page 6 of 9 downturns shrank the global energy demand, including fossil fuels, resulting in a sharp drop in their prices. Low fossil fuel prices are harmful to developing renewable energy projects, making solar, wind, and other renewable energy resources less competitive as sources of electricity. This is endangering the Paris agreement and the “Climate Action” goal of the United Nations. Given the high share of fossil fuels in the energy mix of the members of ASEAN, tremendous challenges must be faced for their energy transition in the post-Covid-19 world. The authors call for sound policy and applicable technologies to ensure sustainable energy availability, accessibility, and affordability to reach emission reduction targets.