The Asia Pacific (APAC) region needs to accelerate the deployment of mature technologies, support emerging climate solutions, and scale up finance for the energy transition to stay on track with the Paris Agreement, according to a new study. Published by research provider BloombergNEF and investment platform GenZero, ‘Asia Pacific’s Energy Transition Outlook’ said the region faces a “colossal but not insurmountable” challenge to decarbonise its economies, while also ensuring an affordable and secure energy supply to meet growing needs. Cost-competitive low-carbon solutions – such as solar, wind and passenger electric vehicles – represent a significant economic opportunity, it added, warning however that governments and corporates must intensify efforts to commercialise emerging technologies for deployment at scale. This, in turn, would need to be supported by a tripling of annualised investment in energy transition technologies to US$2.3 trillion over the 2024-2030 period. In addition, the report identified nine technology drivers for APAC’s net zero transition, with electric vehicles, renewable power, energy storage, and power grids described as “mature” – while nuclear, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, sustainable aviation fuels, and heat pumps were characterised as not currently scalable or cost-competitive. “Different levels of socio-economic development mean not all countries have the ability to effect a just energy transition on their own,” said Frederick Teo, CEO of GenZero. “Cross-border collaboration and the ability to catalyse financing from the public, private, and philanthropic sectors globally will be key to accelerate the deployment of cost-effective solutions in the coming years to meet our targets.”
