Page 5 - AsiaElec Week 16 2022

AsiaElec COMMENTARY AsiaElec

Meanwhile, the key problem is Asia is coal is Four out of 10 companies (40%) reported
still being used to meet rising power demand. measuring at least one category of their Scope
China, Bangladesh, India, Kazakhstan, Mon- 3 emissions, while almost all respondents (98%)
golia, Pakistan and Vietnam all posted rising having management-level oversight for cli-
electricity demand and higher emissions in the mate-related issues. Three-quarters (76%) of
first half of 2021, as coal generation increased as companies reported having a process for iden-
well as wind and solar, according to green think tifying, assessing and responding to climate-re-
tank Ember. lated risks and opportunities.
While the CDP research found a worrying As of March 2022, 300 companies in the Asia
lack of sufficient action by Asia’s corporate play- Pacific region had targets validated by the Sci-
ers, Asia itself is still accounting for the majority ence Based Targets initiative (SBTi), leading the
of renewables generating capacity. world’s effort in meeting the Paris Agreement
Asia accounted for 60% of new green addi- goals aiming to prevent the worst impacts of cli-
tions in 2020, with China the biggest single mate change.
contributor with 121 GW, the International The report said that organisations that did
Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) said. India have targets in place - either absolute or intensi-
was next with 13 GW, followed by Japan with 5 ty-based - were four times more likely to decrease
GW and South Korea and Vietnam with 4 GW their GHG emissions. Setting science-based
each. targets is the critical step to raise ambition and
IRENA warned that the rate of growth was ensure accountability.
still not sufficient to guarantee a net-zero future.
Renewables need to reach around 40% in total Regional laggard
energy generation across all sectors by 2030. However, Asia-Pacific is still lagging behind
other global regions.
Scope 3 emissions The report also finds that the region’s current
“The decisions we make over the next five years level of action in reducing emissions is lagging
will determine whether reaching net-zero by behind its global counterparts.
2050 is achievable and therefore we need all For example, 600 companies responding to
actors in our economy – national and local gov- CDP’s Investor Signatories reported reduced
ernments, businesses, and capital markets – to be emissions in 2021, with net reduction totalling
united in ambitious, urgent, system-wide action. 267mn tonnes of CO2e. While this is a positive
CDP looks forward to seeing our region’s busi- sign, it only represents 1% of the overall emis-
ness and policy leaders continue to lead the way sions reported in the region for 2021.
in the transition to a net-zero, nature positive And although growth in renewable electric-
and equitable world,” said Donald Chan, man- ity markets across the Asia Pacific region has
aging director for Asia Pacific at CDP. helped spur emissions reductions and other cli-
Other data found in the report showed that mate mitigation strategies, presently just 5% of
companies were taking climate change more the electricity consumed by the top 100 energy
seriously. consumers is sourced from renewables.™

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