Belém, Brazil – On Energy Day at the COP30 climate summit, civil society groups called attention to the urgent decarbonization of the energy sector in Southeast Asia, which today is characterized by heavy reliance on coal and gas.

Southeast Asia, a region renowned for its cultural richness and megabiodiversity, is also at the frontlines of climate impacts. 

In a press conference inside the COP30 Blue Zone, Avril De Torres, Deputy Executive Director of Philippines-based Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (CEED) explained: “Countries like the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Myanmar  are frequently listed in the top 10 most vulnerable to natural disasters and climate change. Asia is heating up at twice the global average rate. And on top of heatwaves, there are typhoons, floods, and rising seas / that are already displacing communities, destroying habitats, and undermining the food and water security of millions.”

“Despite this vulnerability, Southeast Asia remains the last bastion of coal and an emerging hub for gas and LNG,” De Torres said. “We have 43 GW of coal and 136 GW of gas still planned for expansion. Many of these projects sit inside or dangerously close to protected areas, conservation zones, and critical habitats.”

“For the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as a whole, fossil fuels form 79% of the energy mix. The energy sector, as a result, is also its largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. While countries say that they are committed to increasing renewable energy and reducing emissions, at the same time they are also increasing the production and use of fossil fuels. Nine countries in Southeast Asia have declared net-zero emission targets; seven of them by 2050. If they want to get to that target, they have to phase out fossil fuels,” said Nithi Nesadurai, Coordinator of Climate Action Network – Southeast Asia.

The groups also raised alarm over the role of Global North nations – including Japan and the United States – in pushing Southeast Asian and other climate-vulnerable nations to continue relying on fossil fuels through bankrolling the industry or economic pressures.

“As a Global North country, Japan has a deep responsibility to lead climate action. But what it is doing is the exact opposite: delaying the energy transition across the world, especially in Southeast Asia. Since 2016, the Japanese government through the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) has been providing financial support to 26 gas projects across 15 countries. JBIC also provided a staggering 18.6 billion USD to fossil gas projects since 2016 — an amount that is four times larger than Japan’s cumulative contribution to the Green Climate Fund. Through the Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC), Japan is also promoting false solutions like liquefied natural gas, ammonia co-firing with coal, and carbon capture and storage — technologies that are expensive, unestablished, and, most importantly, do not contribute to emissions reduction. Japan is actively promoting these by intentionally incorporating them into the drafting of energy transition plans of Southeast Asian countries,” said Hiroki Osada, Campaigner from Friends of the Earth Japan.

“We have to emphasize that ASEAN is a renewables rich region and it can transition to 100% renewable energy with just energy transition, without having gas as a transition fuel – which is the current narrative – and without going into dangerous distractions,” added Nesadurai.

Weeks ahead COP30, the region basked in the global spotlight after the ASEAN Summit in Malaysia was attended by both President Lula and US President Trump — whose failure to send a US delegation to the global climate talks for the first time in 30 years has been the subject of major outcry.

“The biggest historical emitter, the United States, is absent here at COP, despite showing up at the ASEAN Summit in Malaysia,” noted De Torres. “ASEAN must show zero tolerance for climate obstruction. We should not be pressured to be locked in long-term deals for US liquefied natural gas, using tariff threats as leverage. And our governments should not allow Global North countries to derail their responsibility to phase-out fossils and act urgently on the climate crisis.”

Filipino groups in the panel also called for an end to obstructions to climate justice and action even from within the region, as the Philippines, the new Chair of the ASEAN, is currently confronted with a major government corruption scandal.

“Across Southeast Asia, anti-corruption and pro-democracy protests are spreading like wildfire. In my own country, billions of pesos meant for flood control, money meant to save lives, are being siphoned off. Our governments cannot stand in these halls claiming to defend climate-vulnerable peoples and ecosystems while stealing from them at home,” said De Torres.

Just days prior, a former member of the Philippine Congress – ex-House Appropriations Committee chairman Zaldy Co – publicly admitted personal involvement in flood control corruption, while pointing to Philippine President Bongbong Marcos himself as prime author for congressional insertions of Php 100 billion to the national budget, of which the President allegedly received a Php 25 billion ‘cut’ delivered by Co and aides himself to the President and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

“Just before COP30, the Philippines experienced twin typhoons which claimed the lives of hundreds and wiped out entire communities. This was a stark and painful reminder that we need to ramp up climate action in the area of adaptation and resilience-building – but that very area instead became an opportunity for our officials to make money by plundering the national treasury. These funds are from national loans – the Philippines is slated to be indebted by up to Php 20 trillion by the end of President Marcos’s term, and from the hard-earned taxes of our people,” decried Luke Espiritu, President of the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (Solidarity of Filipino Workers).

According to the Philippines’ environment ministry, only 23% of over 5,300 flood-control projects implemented from 2021 to 2024 have effectively protected communities from flooding. Geospatial analysis also revealed structures that only worsened flooding, merely diverted rather than eradicated flood risk, or simply did not function as intended.

“In the face of an intensifying climate crisis, the Philippines is operating in a business-as-usual approach characterized by corruption. It is also in this context that our country’s oligarchs are allowed to continue expanding our coal and fossil gas fleet as a lucrative way of accumulating wealth. Recently, President Marcos even adopted a law promoting more use of gas, and directed the energy ministry to issue an advisory that essentially overturns the country’s moratorium on new coal. We remind the Philippine government that it needs to honor its international commitments – and its duty to the Filipino people – of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, advancing climate action, and doing away with dirty fossils,” Espiritu said.

 “Acting otherwise will come at a heavy cost– compromising our energy security, undermining our region’s climate ambitions, and condemning our people to climate chaos,” said De Torres.

The groups expressed solidarity with calls for ambitious outcomes at COP30, including the institutionalization of a just energy transition through a Belem Action Mechanism (BAM) under the Just Transition Work Programme (JTWP) and for a roadmap for the Transition Away From Fossil Fuels (TAFF), as has been championed by COP30 presidency Brazil.

“A just energy transition is imperative to achieve decarbonization while ensuring equity, protecting workers, and empowering vulnerable groups,” added Nesadurai.