Southeast Asian nations should shift their focus from energy security to energy sovereignty by meeting their power and fuel needs through domestically-generated renewable energy, regional civil society leaders have urged.
Energy sovereignty means a country is able to meet its energy needs based on its own capacity to generate the required electricity and fuel, said Nithi Nesadurai, director and regional coordinator of nonprofit Climate Action Network Southeast Asia (CANSEA) in a media briefing ahead of the First Conference on Transitioning Away From Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta, Colombia, from 24 to 29 April.
The landmark summit is the first intergovernmental meeting focused on how to phase out all fossil fuels, not just reduce emissions, without being blocked by laggard states. Colombia and the Netherlands moved to co‑host the conference after UN climate talks at COP30 failed to agree on a fossil fuel phaseout, aiming to sustain momentum toward an equitable global roadmap for ending fossil fuel use.
Nesadurai pointed to Indonesia as a pivotal example. Long the world’s largest exporter and one of the biggest consumers of coal, the country’s president has framed the global energy crisis as an opportunity to accelerate a transition to renewables, unveiling plans for a 100 gigawatt (GW) solar power project.
Similar signals are emerging elsewhere in the region, he added. In Cambodia, authorities have begun promoting plans for a carbon-neutral island designed to operate with minimal or zero dependence on fossil fuels, which is not a direct, short‑term shield against the current oil price spike in the Middle East, but part of a longer‑term strategy to reduce exactly this kind of vulnerability, Nesadurai suggested.
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Our Southeast Asia leaders need to make it to Santa Marta [with a clear message that] transitioning away from fossil fuels has an economic justification and argument to it.
Nithi Nesadurai, director and regional coordinator, Climate Action Network Southeast Asia (CANSEA)
“Our Southeast Asia leaders need to make it to Santa Marta [with a clear message that] transitioning away from fossil fuels has an economic justification and argument to it. [Doing so] will save billions in fossil fuel imports and withstand shocks and create energy sovereignty,” said Nesadurai.
Philippine climate justice advocate Lidy Nacpil warned that her country’s heavy dependence on fossil fuels now poses a “dangerous” threat to the immediate economic survival of Filipinos. Some Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines, are falling back on coal because existing infrastructure and limited storage and refinery capacity constrain their options, she said. The Philippines has only two to three months of storage and refining capacity for oil products, raising the risk of future rationing.
Koh Sralao, an ecotourism community located in Koh Kong province. Cambodia has announced that it will have its first-ever carbon-neutral island by next year at the latest, as the government fast tracks a pilot project on the island, which is home to more than 300 families, in a bid to meet its carbon neutrality goal by 2050. Image: Mey Ju
“For these immediate reasons, there is no response but to really advance renewables,” said Nacpil, coordinator of Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD), adding that any fallback on coal should be strictly temporary. Building new coal plants “doesn’t make sense,” she argued, when constructing renewable energy projects takes roughly half the time.
The Philippines has declared a state of national energy emergency in response to a global oil shock triggered by the war in Iran, and is moving to ramp up fossil fuel generation even as officials insist the country’s long‑term clean energy transition remains on track.
Since the declaration, the government has pursued emergency deals for crude and refined products from non‑Gulf suppliers and signalled a “temporary” pivot back to fossil fuels. The government plans to maximise existing coal‑fired power plants, consider increasing coal imports from Indonesia, and rely more heavily on gas and coal‑based generation in the near term, and continuing with exisiting clean energy plans,rather than a fundamental course correction.
