17 January 2013
IEA Outlines Plans to Enhance Cooperation with Partner Countries in Asia
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The IEA is enhancing co-operation with IEA partner countries in Asia to enable them to implement reforms aimed at liberalizing their energy markets and mobilizing capital for investment.

The IEA is also investigating technologies for the ASEAN Energy sector, to meet anticipated demand in the region, and highlights the global importance of the region's endowment of renewable energy resources will be for its future.

IEA14 January 2013: The International Energy Agency (IEA) has published a press release highlighting dynamics in Asia that will affect global energy trade over the next five years, as economies in the region expand and consequently energy demand rises. It also outlines co-operation with IEA partner countries in Asia aimed at addressing these challenges.

The piece indicates that the IEA is enhancing co-operation with IEA partner countries in Asia to enable them to implement reforms aimed at liberalizing their energy markets and mobilizing capital for investment. The IEA is also investigating technologies for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) energy sector, to meet anticipated demand in the region. As IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven explained, “Co-operation with the private sector, among regional actors and stakeholders, and globally between emerging economies and developed ones will all be necessary to sustainably meet rising energy demand and provide supply security.”

After highlighting some of the specific policy and industry changes being undertaken in the region to improve energy markets, provision and access, the piece highlights the global importance of the region’s endowment of renewable energy resources will be. Current IEA estimates indicate that 15% of CO2 reductions required in the region to keep global temperatures increases from climate change to below 2°C could come from geothermal power alone. It further notes that China is currently responsible for approximately 40% of global renewable energy growth, and that India and Thailand are also significant players in renewable energy growth. [IEA Press Release]