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On April 20, 2022, the Sustainable Development: Asia and the World Annual Report 2022 — Asia in Action towards Green Transition (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") was released by the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), which is to provide a stocktaking of current climate actions in Asia over major drivers of green transition and provide policy recommendations accordingly.
The main contents of the Report are as follows:
The Net-Zero pledges by Asian countries
25 Asian countries have made Net-Zero pledges by year end 2021. For the seven largest Asian economies, Japan and Republic of Korea have set Net-Zero pledges for 2050, Turkey for 2053, China, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia for 2060, and India for 2070.
The green governance structure within nations
Many Asian countries have defined their short-, medium-, and long-term decarbonization goals and drawn up roadmaps to meet these targets. They have also adopted a wide range of policies on climate mitigation and adaptation, and put forward a whole package of industrial, fiscal, and financial policies, to provide incentive and disincentive measures.
The three main driving forces
Green finance: According to the latest estimates from Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), climate finance to Asia in 2020 accounts for around 50% of global total, compared to 17% for Western Europe and 13% for the United States and Canada.
Green technology: Asia countries are promoting technologies on clean energy, energy efficiency and storage, carbon capture and utilization etc. Globally 768 GW of Solar PV has already been installed as of 2020. Asia continues account for nearly 23% of global new capacity. China, Vietnam and Japan were among the top 5 for newly installed capacity in 2020. Wind power global capacity reached 743 GW in 2020, with China (282 GW) and India (38.6 GW) taking the first and fourth positions respectively in total capacity. Plenty of green transition projects are undertaken in Asian countries.
Actions in the business domain: Asian companies are ambitious in the fight against climate change with 440 of them signing up to the Science-Based Target initiative (SBTi). Industries such as consumer goods, manufacturing and service take the lead in setting up Paris- Agreement-aligned targets, both long term and interim. Systematic and ecosystem-wide approaches, e.g., supply chain management, are integrated into Asian business climate responses more than ever.
Nine recommendations for green transition in Asia:
Adopt green growth model to build back better.
Set more ambitious NDC 2030 and roadmaps with clear timetables and sequencing.
Promote sound green governance.
Phase down Coal.
Scale up renewable energy and electrify transportation.
Promote carbon pricing.
Develop green finance.
Enhance climate finance and green technology transfer.
Join international climate change initiatives and platforms.
