From August 20-21 Indonesia will host the second annual Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC) ministerial meeting, a Japan-led initiative that faces growing criticism for promoting fossil fuel technologies under the guise of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Despite its “zero emissions” branding, AZEC is increasingly seen as a vehicle for prolonging Asia dependence on fossil fuels, rather than fostering a true transition to renewable energy in the region. (Read the Top 4 reasons AZEC threatens Asia’s energy transition here.)
The day before the meeting commenced, Indonesian CSOs, including Friends of the Earth Indonesia (WALHI) hosted a press conference in Jakarta calling on Japan to stop derailing Asia’s energy transition through AZEC and instead support a rapid, fair and equitable decarbonization and energy transition in a way that ensures the meaningful participation of local communities and civil society groups in Indonesia. WALHI is a member of Fossil Free Japan–a coalition of civil society organizations and movements from Japan and around the world working to end Japan’s support for oil, gas, and coal.
“The Japanese government insists that we need ‘various pathways’ to achieve carbon neutrality and energy security,” said Hikmat Soeriatanuwijaya, Senior Partnership and Outreach Officer at Oil Change International based in Jakarta. “In fact, the surest path to ensuring energy security in Asia is the rapid, just development of renewable energy.”
Yesterday experts representing the Indonesian CSOs spoke at the WALHI Office, pointing out the problems with AZEC, and broadcasted online. Speakers included:
- Bhima Yudhistira (Celios) on accountability and transparency, including debt trap
- Pius Ginting (AEER) on fossil-based solutions
- Sigit Budiono (Don’t Gas Indonesia) on false solutions
- Uli Artha (WALHI) on land grabbing and human rights violations
In addition to the press conference, Fossil Free Japan and its coalition partners took action on the ground at the Second AZEC ministerial meeting and around the region including:
- Open letter to the Indonesian and Japanese governments from Indonesian CSOs
- Letter to ASEAN delegates organised by the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD)
- Open letter to Australia’s new ministerial representative to AZEC
- Photos from actions in Jakarta, Bangkok and Tokyo can be found here.
Civil society organizations have long warned that AZEC’s focus on fossil fuel-based technologies delays real action on climate change. “Japan claims AZEC contributes to Asia’s decarbonization, when in fact they are mobilizing financing and spurring the development of fossil fuel-based technologies – including liquefied natural gas (LNG), ammonia and biomass co-firing at coal power plants, hydrogen blending at gas plants, and carbon capture and storage (CCS),” said Makiko Arima, Senior Finance Campaigner at Oil Change International. “These technologies are dangerous distractions that will just prolong the use of gas and coal.”
While Japan positions AZEC as a decarbonization tool, critics highlight the region’s vast untapped renewable energy potential. In Southeast Asia, over 99% of solar and wind capacity remains untapped, and in 2021, solar and wind contributed only 4% of electricity generation across the five major ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam). ASEAN itself aims to increase this share to 23% by 2025. But Japan is instead choosing to use AZEC to help Japanese corporations such as JERA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) expand their markets in Asia for their fossil-fuel-based technologies.
“The AZEC initiative that Japan is leading under its GX (Green Transformation) strategy is nothing more than a greenwash labeled as decarbonization,” said Hozue Hatae, a campaigner on development finance and environment at Friends of the Earth Japan. “It is reproducing the centralized power systems which prioritize the profits of large corporations and infringe on the basic human rights of vulnerable local communities while spreading ‘false solutions’ in Asia, instead of addressing the imminent climate crisis.”
According to experts, Japan’s fossil fuel push through AZEC is not only environmentally damaging but financially burdensome for many countries already struggling with debt. Transitioning to gas, as promoted by AZEC, will lead to volatile prices and stranded assets. In comparison, the cost of fossil-based energy solutions like ammonia is up to four times higher than solar and wind energy in countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
“AZEC is powered by lies on all fronts,” said Erin Ryan from Climate Action Network Australia. “Japan is lobbying Australia to supply more fossil gas to ‘keep the lights on in Tokyo’, then reselling imported gas throughout Asia – using AZEC as the mechanism to create a market. Australia, and all countries involved, need to put people over Japanese profit and say sayonara to AZEC. Communities in Asia are already contending with increasing floods, extreme heat, strengthening typhoons and sea level rise. Japan can’t keep burdening them – and the world – with a derailed energy transition, too.”