In the Wake of a Changing Climate: Energy Security and Solutions

On 17 August 2021, the NUS Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions and The HEAD Foundation co-hosted the third webinar of their joint series, “In the Wake of a Changing Climate”. The webinar, titled “Energy Security and Solutions”, featured three international experts – Dr Newsha Ajami, Director of Urban Policy at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, Dr Rafael Schmitt of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and Mr. Beni Suryadi from the ASEAN Centre for Energy. The panellists discussed the energy dimension of the water-energy-food nexus in Southeast Asia, the energy security dilemmas, and what solutions and innovations can be effective for the region. This session was hosted and moderated by Ms. Melissa Low, a Research Fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Energy Studies Institute.

In the webinar, panellists discussed the urgent need to link energy and climate policies with each country’s energy commitments for their Nationally Determined Contributions made in the Paris Agreement. As the world becomes more energy-intensive, we will need to focus on enhancing circularity of emerging energy portfolios, and to reduce before we produce. Nexus-focused funding and financing options can create the needed cross-sector collaboration to find solutions. Lastly, Southeast Asia has a major potential for hydropower, but harnessing it can have major environmental impacts. Thus, strategic planning is needed to manage impact/benefit ratios, and ensure that projects produce secure, affordable, and low-carbon energy with minimised impact on livelihoods and the environment.

We invite you to watch the full recording of the webinar to hear first-hand the insightful discussions and Q&A responses from the panellists.

The HEAD Foundation and NUS CNCS sincerely thank the webinar panellists and attendees from 16 countries including Australia, Brunei, China, HK, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Sri Lanka, US and Singapore for your support and participation.

*This series is jointly organised with the NUS Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions.