Skip to content
Home » ASEAN’s Digitalisation and Decarbonisation Tightrope

ASEAN’s Digitalisation and Decarbonisation Tightrope

  • News

In a new article published by the East Asia Forum, Pippa Amanta explored how digitalisation and decarbonisation can go together for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). ASEAN member states include some of the fastest growing economies, increasingly from their digital economy. At the same time, ASEAN faces immense decarbonisation challenges with rapidly increasing energy demand amidst high fossil fuel dependency.

Pippa analysed the potential synergies and trade-offs between two key strategies framing the digitalisation and decarbonisation objectives in ASEAN, namely the Digital Economy Framework Agreement and the Strategy for Carbon Neutrality. Pippa argued that ASEAN must address the potential trade-offs between its digitalisation and decarbonisation ambitions. On its current course, the digital transformation will directly and indirectly increase emissions and disproportionately affect vulnerable communities in the region. Policymakers across the digital and environmental sectors must work together to advance both goals in a just manner.

Read the full article here.