Eco-Business

Nepal floods bring renewed focus on neighbour Bhutan’s efforts to protect its economically crucial – but debt generating – hydro infrastructure and trade with India.

Long-term power purchases could unlock investment in renewables and transmission as Asean advances cross-border electricity trade, say energy transition specialists at the close of the 44th Asean Ministers on Energy Meeting. Ministers also urged regional cooperation to cut methane emissions from oil, gas and coal.

Rising electricity demand from data centres is putting pressure on the country to expand generation and grid capacity, but shorter-term commitments from some operators could make it harder to recover the cost of those investments, said the country’s energy regulator.

Workers installing solar panels in Vietnam

As of 2025, solar electricity was already 50 per cent cheaper than gas on average across Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia, according to a Zero Carbon Analytics study. The cost gap is expected to widen to 84 per cent by the end of the decade.

By Eleanor Randolph

By Hannah Alcoseba Fernandez

By Rhick Lars Albay

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Policy & Finance

War and climate

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz showed how quickly a regional conflict can throw global energy markets into chaos. By pushing governments toward coal and biofuels, the war could accelerate deforestation and undermine climate negotiations, with environmental consequences that will linger long after the fighting ends. By Carlos Nobre, Johan Rockström and Robert Muggah

Mineral security is not just about access to resources but about control over value chains. India’s response must be strategic, not reactive. By Animesh Ghosh and Soumit Pandey

Partnerships with China, not protectionism, will determine affordable, interoperable and equitable global decarbonisation and energy security. By Peter Newman and Ray Wills

Malaysia faces political, economic and constitutional barriers to curb carbon emission. As the climate bill nears Parliament, can policy finally match the country's carbon reality? By Pearly Wong

By Daniel Driscoll

By Edward Vrkić

By Philippe Le Billon

By Tan Sambathsopheaktra

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Economic fears look set to trump any concerns about climate change among voters, according to street interviews conducted by Eco-Business.

Campaigning for the city-state's general elections has crossed the halfway mark, but climate has hardly featured as an electoral issue. Eco-Business hits the streets to ask Singaporeans from a range of socioeconomic groups: Would they vote for a party that promises bolder climate action?

Transition credits explainer video_title card

There is consensus that coal needs to be retired early in Asia, but the mechanisms for financing the phase-out are not clear. This mini-documentary examines how transition credits work and whether they can fund Southeast Asia's equitable switch to clean power.

Jovie Montajes, founder of Light of Hope PH

After 20 years without electricity, more than 50 households in Cebu's poorest district have been provided with solar energy, financed by carbon offsets.

Air-conditioning units on a building in Singapore

Improving energy efficiency could meet a quarter of Southeast Asia’s emissions reduction targets. Here is how efficiency could drive Southeast Asia's energy transition.

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EB Studio Critical to the country’s energy security in the 1970s, geothermal is now re-emerging as the Philippines’ biggest clean energy advantage at a time when countries are seeking reliable, round-the-clock renewable power, says Francis Giles B. Puno, president and chief operating officer of First Gen Corporation.

Government must call on development finance institutions to tap on risk management tools to make the capital-intensive technology more investible, Global Wind Energy Council’s Ann Margret Francisco tells the EB Podcast.

As Southeast Asia eyes regional power trading to accelerate decarbonisation, veteran solar entrepreneur Frank Phuan unpacks the political, economic and logistical hurdles of moving clean energy across borders.

At the close of COP30, nations agreed to triple adaptation finance by 2035, while the fund for loss and damage appeared to remain sidelined. Lidy Nacpil, a long-time attendee of the climate conference, explains why.

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