By Audrey Tan
Hello from New York City! Climate Week is in full swing here, and this year’s event is the biggest in its 16-year history, according to the organiser Climate Group.
With a record-breaking number of events, unprecedented levels of government participation, and the largest line up of corporate partners to date, it is “the most significant international climate gathering outside of COP”, the organiser said.
Climate Week NYC is a week-long series of events on sustainability issues ahead of the UN climate conference in Brazil next month. It also coincides with the UN General Assembly, making it a high-profile event.
While planning my coverage, one thing stood out for me: there are very few speakers or sessions focusing on South-east Asia’s climate or nature challenges.
Given the region’s increasing global emissions, why is the region’s participation in the relevant discussions on energy, nature conservation, so muted?
According to the International Energy Agency, South-east Asia is on course to account for 25 per cent of global energy demand growth between now and 2035 – second only to India – and more than double its share of growth since 2010. By mid-century, energy demand in South-east Asia will overtake the European Union. The region is also one of the world’s richest hubs of biodiversity both on land and in the sea. But many of these natural ecosystems are coming under threat from human activity.
On Monday morning, I covered a high-level event involving ministers from different countries on how the ocean can be factored into national climate pledges. There were no representatives from South-east Asia, despite the Coral Triangle being located in our backyard.
Granted, there are a handful of events featuring speakers from South-east Asia. For example, Singapore’s Philanthropy Asia Alliance, GenZero and the Economic Development Board are hosting segments to galvanise interest in the region.
But if Climate Week NYC is touted as being a significant precursor to the annual climate summit, surely that should speak to wider geographic participation.
The value of international meetings with such a wide audience base is that it can spark conversations among like-minded partners across countries, spurring new research projects, unlocking funding opportunities and learning about new possibilities from others.
Perhaps the cost of travel to the Big Apple may have contributed to the muted representation from South-east Asia. Plus, there are other climate forums that are held in the region such as the Bangkok Climate Action Week, Ecosperity and Singapore International Energy Week.
But this observation just made me wonder: when will South-east Asian issues start to catch the world’s attention?
In climate circles, a dominant narrative is that developing countries need financial assistance from developed countries to accelerate progress on sustainability.
While this is true, and developed countries do have a responsibility to pay for their historical emissions, there are ground-up solutions and funders within the region who can accelerate progress on this front as well.
It will be good for South-east Asia’s voice to be heard at the global level. But we should not wait passively for that to happen. We need more participation and it has to be backed up with concrete action.
That was why I thought it heartening that Singapore investment company Octave Capital recently joined forces with Norwegian venture capital firm Katapult Ocean on its Asia Ocean Fund, which aims to fund start-ups with business ideas that support ocean health.
At a time where even the developed countries are fiscally constrained and science is under assault, South-east Asia needs to step up to take care of its own. The good news is that we are starting to see examples of this innovation. Here are some articles on these promising developments.
