30 June 2026
Building Energy Resilience and Integrity: Southeast Asia’s Way Forward in a Fractured Global Order
Executive Summary
The global energy landscape is increasingly unstable, shaping vulnerabilities linked with external energy dependence. At the same time, energy demand in Southeast Asia continues to rise at a high pace. These effects increase the urgency for ASEAN to accelerate measures that strengthen its energy security anchored in regional resilience. To enhance the region’s energy future, ASEAN could adopt a strategy that incorporates a planetary health perspective converging ecological stability, public health and human security. This involves relying on advancing the ASEAN Power Grid, while leveraging its critical mineral resources to enhance green partnerships and developing supportive clean measures, including nuclear energy. Each approach comes with a clear responsibility to mitigate potential risks to ecosystems and community well-being. This proposed integration of a planetary health perspective ensures that Southeast Asia’s energy solutions do not undermine the people and systems that the energy transition ultimately seeks to protect.
Executive Summary
The global energy landscape is increasingly unstable, shaping vulnerabilities linked with external energy dependence. At the same time, energy demand in Southeast Asia continues to rise at a high pace. These effects increase the urgency for ASEAN to accelerate measures that strengthen its energy security anchored in regional resilience. To enhance the region’s energy future, ASEAN could adopt a strategy that incorporates a planetary health perspective converging ecological stability, public health and human security. This involves relying on advancing the ASEAN Power Grid, while leveraging its critical mineral resources to enhance green partnerships and developing supportive clean measures, including nuclear energy. Each approach comes with a clear responsibility to mitigate potential risks to ecosystems and community well-being. This proposed integration of a planetary health perspective ensures that Southeast Asia’s energy solutions do not undermine the people and systems that the energy transition ultimately seeks to protect.
