7th International Conference on Public Policy

Just energy transitions in Southeast Asia: how to put “justice” into policy and regulatory frameworks?

SEI Asia is leading a panel on just energy transitions in Southeast Asia and how countries can integrate a justice lens on policy and regulatory frameworks.

Overview

Even though the “just” element of energy transition research and practice has increased in popularity recently, the definition of what constitutes a just transition is still being debated (Heffron et al. 2024). Indeed, stakeholders in the Southeast Asian region often have diverging visions about how to implement energy transitions (Bößner, Fauzi, and Rimal 2023) and sometimes lack a good understanding of the “just” element of energy transitions (IESR 2024). Moreover, it is unclear how elements of justice and equity are reflected in current ASEAN energy policy and regulatory frameworks.

The fossil fuel-based energy sector is by far the largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHG) and arguably the most important sector to decarbonize in order to meet the objectives enshrined in international law such as the Paris Agreement. However, decarbonizing the energy sector is only possible if a large coalition of stakeholders, including the private sector and civic society organizations (CSOs),is brought on board due to the decentralized nature of low-carbon alternatives. This can only be done with just and equitable approaches to energy transitions but understanding those approaches is still in its infancy. Therefore, bringing conceptual clarity to the issue of just energy transitions and designing policy and regulatory frameworks that support such a just and equitable approach is of utmost importance thus making this panel highly relevant not only from a scientific perspective but also from an implementation perspective.

Objective

This panel’s objective is to bring clarity to the conceptual ambiguity of just energy transition and investigate how elements of justice and equity are reflected (or not) in current ASEAN energy policies. As a second objective, this panel will discuss how energy transition policies and regulatory frameworks can be made more robust and effective by integrating justice and equity considerations, with a view to identifying policy provisions that would be needed to facilitate a truly just energy transition. In doing so, the panel will assemble a variety of stakeholders, including the private sector, in order to discuss both policy needs and showcase local, bottom-up solutions for just energy transitions.

Key discussion points

1. What are the necessary ‘just’ elements of energy transitions in the Southeast Asian region?
2. Do current policies adequately reflect those elements of justice and equity in energy transition pathways? If not, what is missing?
3. How can elements of justice be mainstreamed into regional policy and regulatory frameworks to facilitate a truly just energy transition?  
4. What kind of success stories can we tell, of localized, bottom-up just energy solutions?