Reflection & Outcome Projection on the Impact of ASEAN Energy Transition to Regional Cohesivity

Abstract

Abstract Within the past decades, the world is combating climate change that leads to the need for clean energy. In consideration of the previous notion, ASEAN has become one of the important actors in supporting the process of achieving clean energy in Southeast Asia. On the other hand, each of the countries has different potential for every type of renewable energy. That being said, Southeast Asia’s transition to clean energy has a consequential impact on the cohesivity of the region. We use neoliberal theses, specifically the green economy, to explain this. In this paper, we argue that optimistically, clean energy will bring positive impact towards regional cohesion in economics and policy terms. The cohesion itself is the result of the stepping up of ASEAN’s clean energy cooperation and the growth of intra-regional trade in that respective area. Aside from that, institutionalists also argue that institutions—in this case ASEAN—may change the state’s behavior. Nevertheless, there are few things to note if ASEAN sought to accelerate their energy transition: national interest, the involvement of great powers, the inequality in technology distribution, and the overshadowment in global investment to China, India, and Brazil due to their potential.