The Green Horizon: East Asia’s Sustainable Energy Future report provides a comprehensive roadmap for aligning energy and development objectives across East Asia. It emphasizes decarbonizing the power and industrial sectors—which together account for 75–87 percent of regional emissions—through strategies such as enhanced efficiency, electrification, renewable energy deployment, and advanced technologies like green hydrogen and carbon capture, utilization, and storage. By combining original data with detailed country-level assessments, the report examines China, Indonesia, and Vietnam to identify technically viable pathways, potential implementation challenges, and policy frameworks needed to accelerate the transition to net-zero industry.
The report draws insights from five global case studies to analyze successful industrial decarbonization initiatives in energy-intensive sectors. Building on the World Bank’s 2010 Winds of Change study, it integrates research, stakeholder consultations, surveys, and modeling to outline investment requirements and policy priorities. By doing so, it provides a strategic perspective on how East Asia can achieve industrial and power sector decarbonization simultaneously, ensuring coordinated and sustainable growth.
East Asia plays a critical role in global decarbonization, contributing roughly 40 percent of global energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The region remains heavily reliant on fossil fuels, and its emissions are expected to grow alongside industrialization and economic expansion. Transitioning to clean power and low-carbon industry is therefore not only crucial for climate goals but also offers significant opportunities: modernizing production systems, enhancing energy security, boosting competitiveness, and generating employment across emerging and established economies.
Industrial decarbonization presents a strategic opportunity to deliver a triple dividend: productivity gains, green investment and job creation, and improved public health outcomes. Because industrial electrification increases electricity demand, greening the power sector is a prerequisite for successful industrial transformation. The report estimates that achieving decarbonization across China, Vietnam, and Indonesia will require approximately US$ 10.7 trillion in investments by mid-century, highlighting the scale and urgency of this transition.
Key findings reveal that East Asia is heavily dependent on coal, accounting for 69 percent of global coal-fired power generation, which results in high grid emission factors compared to OECD countries. Electricity demand is projected to rise 25 percent by 2030 and more than double by 2060, underscoring the need for coordinated decarbonization of power and industry. The region has vast renewable potential—nearly 65,000 GW from solar, wind, and geothermal—but deployment outside China remains limited. Meeting transition targets will require unprecedented investments: US$ 9 trillion for power sector modernization and US$ 1.7 trillion for industrial decarbonization by mid-century.
The report ultimately underscores that East Asia is at a pivotal point in shaping its energy future. By transforming both power generation and industry in a coordinated manner, the region can strengthen energy security, enhance competitiveness, create new job opportunities, and unlock long-term sustainable growth.
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