Online Workshop on The Energy Situation in ASEAN Post Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused a global recession and ASEAN is not an exception. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected that the world economy will likely contract at -3 percent while ASEAN 5 (Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippine and Indonesia) is likely to contract at -0.6 percent in 2020, much worse than during the 2008–09 financial crisis. Covid-19 has damaged all economic activities, resulting in unprecedented effects on global energy demand leading to significant over-supply of oil and gas which will drop in price. Due to the drastic decline in energy consumption, daily global emissions also dropped by 17% in the first quarter of 2020 compared with 2019 levels. However, economic recovery could see the levels of CO2 emissions bouncing back very quickly. Indeed, global data from late May shows an all-time high for levels of CO2 as countries start to reopen their economies.

Join us in this virtual workshop, to share insights amongst academics, experts, and government officials on the possible changing energy landscape after Covid-19 in ASEAN in regards to both energy and the environment. Speakers will examine issues related to the changes in global energy markets affecting ASEAN, and how long the foreseen impacts will last into the future. For post Covid-19 economic recovery, will there be a shift of priorities in energy policy development? And will some energy policy changes enable ASEAN to pursue a green recovery? Or will it be the other way around: a lower priority on the energy transition?

Speakers:

• Dr Han Phoumin, Senior Energy Economist, ERIA

• Dr Ken KOYAMA, Senior Managing Director, Chief Economist, IEEJ

• Dr Nuki Agya Utama, Executive Director, ASEAN Centre for Energy

• Dr Twarath Sutabutr, Inspector General, Ministry of Energy, Thailand

• Dr Saleh Abdurrahman, Senior Advisor to the Minister for Environment and Spatial Planning, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Indonesia