Philippines, US partnership in clean energy urged

SAN FRANCISCO,California  – As the Philippines continues its push for more green energy sources, a former United States envoy for ASEAN expressed hope for the creation of a partnership between the Philippines and the US for energy transition projects.

On the sidelines of a briefing under the Foreign Press Centers’ International Reporting tour, former US ambassador for ASEAN affairs and deputy assistant secretary of State for Southeast Asia Scot Marciel expressed hope for an energy transition partnership between the two countries similar to the US’ partnership wåith Vietnam and Indonesia.

“It’s a hugely important area not just for the Philippines, but for Southeast Asia. I hope the Philippines is also on track to join the Just Energy Transformation Partnership (JETP) like Indonesia and Vietnam,” Marciel told The STAR.

At the G20 Summit in November last year, the governments of Indonesia, and the international partners group composed of the United States and Japan,   including Canada, Denmark, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Norway and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement launching the JETP.

According to the White House, the landmark partnership pursues an ambitious and just power sector transition in Indonesia, supporting a trajectory consistent with keeping the 1.5 °C global warming limit within reach.

Through the JETP, Indonesia will work, with support from international partners, to develop a comprehensive investment plan to achieve significant new targets and policies to reduce GHG emissions and support impacted communities.

The long-term partnership intends to mobilize an initial $20 billion in public and private financing over a three-to-five-year period, using a mix of grants, concessional loans, market-rate loans, guarantees, and private investments, according to the White House.

It added that contributions to the JETP include $10 billion in public sector pledges, and a commitment to work to mobilize and facilitate $10 billion in private investment from an initial set of private financial institutions coordinated by the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), including Bank of America, Citi, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Macquarie, MUFG, and Standard Chartered. The partnership will also leverage the expertise, resources, and operations of the multilateral development banks.
Vietnam also announced a similar partnership with the international partners group in December, which will mobilize an initial $15.5 billion of public and private funds over the next three to five years to support Vietnam’s green transition.

The Philippines is also pursuing a transition to greener energy sources as it targets to increase the share of renewable energy in the country’s power generation mix to 35 percent in 2030, and 50 percent by 2040.

In a bid to achieve this goal, the country continues to welcome more investments in the renewable energy sector.