Dubai, 4 December 2023: President of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), Tetsuya Watanabe, shared ERIA’s perspectives on decarbonisation strategy in ASEAN at the seminar titled ‘Taking Action Together with ASEAN’ held at the COP28 Japan Pavilion in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

In his keynote address, President Watanabe emphasised the critical importance of acknowledging the diverse decarbonisation pathways of countries, influenced by various factors. To achieve the mutual goal of carbon neutrality, he reaffirmed the significance of establishing a regional policy platform for sharing best practices, coordinating policies, and fostering human resource exchange and development.

He also outlined ERIA’s contributions, including comprehensive analyses on carbon neutrality and ERIA’s publication on the technology list and perspectives on transition finance in Asia.

Concluding his remarks, President Watanabe reaffirmed ERIA’s steadfast commitment to supporting the Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC) and actively contributing to this valuable initiative.

Yoshida Nobuhiro, the Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, inaugurated the event by referencing ‘Triple Breakthrough’ (Emission reduction, Economic growth, and Stable energy supply), ‘One goal, various pathways’, and ‘solution to the world’ as METI’s fundamental idea towards achieving decarbonisation goals, while highlighting their promotion of regional frameworks such as AZEC.

Echoing this statement, Arifin Tasrif, the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of Indonesia, underscored the crucial role of ASEAN-Japan collaboration and initiatives like AZEC in driving energy transition alongside economic growth. He expressed his hope for closer and stronger cooperation between ASEAN and Japan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

The event continued with two insightful sessions. Session I delved into the progress and challenge on energy efficiency, conservation, and renewable energy projects in Asia, while Session II explored new technologies and financing activities aimed at promoting decarbonisation projects in the ASEAN Member States.