Southeast Asia (SEA) stands at a pivotal juncture in its green transition. Over the past decade, the region has demonstrated growing ambition, heightened awareness, and early decisive steps toward sustainable development. Yet, progress has been uneven—and with only five years remaining to meet the critical 2030 climate targets, SEA is not yet on track to fulfill its climate pledges. This report explores pathways for SEA to enter the next phase of its green transition—one centered on value creation, where decarbonization must unlock economic competitiveness, job creation, and energy resilience.
This report “Bain & Company, GenZero, Google, Standard Chartered, and Temasek Southeast Asia’s Green Economy 2025 Report: Unlocking Systems for Growth and Impact” highlights three critical systems-level solutions: scaling up a sustainable bioeconomy to safeguard and regenerate natural resources, modernizing regional and domestic grids to enhance renewable energy integration, and rapidly developing an integrated electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem to decarbonize transportation and maintain regional competitiveness in automotive manufacturing.
Each solution not only mitigates emissions but also generates economic value. Crucially, the report also emphasizes the enabling solutions needed to support these comprehensive strategies. Expanding climate finance, scaling credible carbon markets, and leveraging green artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance energy efficiency and emissions reduction are vital to achieving scale and sustainability.
The report further introduces an important new catalyst: the significant potential for strategic collaboration between SE Asia and the broader Asia-Pacific region. By co-developing infrastructure, harmonizing standards, and integrating green supply chains and digital platforms, regional partnerships and investment can amplify outcomes, delivering impacts greater than the sum of their parts.
Access the report here
