Major opportunities for a clean steel sector in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia’s steel production has surged over the past three decades, with Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines collectively producing nearly 80 million tonnes in 2024, on par with the U.S. Unfortunately, most production remains coal-based, raising questions about long-term emissions and competitiveness. However, a new report from Agora Industry and Agora Energiewende finds significant opportunities to decarbonize Southeast Asia’s growing steel sector, including the potential to supply the region’s rapidly expanding automotive sector with quality low-carbon steel.
The analysis outlines pathways such as a gradual shift to electric arc furnaces and direct reduced iron, alongside enabling conditions like expanded renewable energy supply and stronger regulatory frameworks. More than 90 percent of existing blast furnaces in Southeast Asia will reach the end of their operational life by 2040 and need to be replaced. Early action could avoid up to 120 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions by 2040. The report was launched at a webinar in July, which brought together perspectives from the Indonesia Iron and Steel Industry Association, GBPN, SteelZero, and the ASEAN Centre for Energy.
Indonesia’s EV market surges, but future growth hinges on stronger policy support under the new administration
Battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales in Indonesia reached 43,188 units in 2024—up from just 125 in 2020—giving BEVs a 5 percent market share. This growth has been supported by fiscal incentives, including reducing value-added tax on BEVs from 11 percent to 1 percent and luxury tax exemptions. Major automakers, including Hyundai, Wuling, BYD, and Citroën, are active in the market, with new investments from Aion, VinFast, and Volkswagen.
The electrification drive was launched by former President Joko Widodo in 2019. Current President Prabowo Subianto has continued BEV-supportive regulations and introduced new policies since taking office in 2024, though electrification has received less emphasis than under his predecessor.
Indonesia’s BEV market is accelerating, but reaching the 2030 production goal of 2.5 million battery electric passenger cars per year will require stronger measures. The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) supported the government in developing two 100 percent pathways in an electrification roadmap.
The ICCT analysis highlights several opportunities for the government to accelerate Indonesia’s EV transition:
- Update Presidential Regulation No. 79/2023 to incorporate a 100 percent electrification roadmap for all road transport.
- Expand fiscal incentives to include electric motorcycles, trucks, and heavy-duty vehicles.
- Introduce BEV sales requirements and fuel consumption standards—key supply-side regulations that have proved effective in other major markets.
- Extend charging infrastructure planning beyond 2030 and across all transport segments, including heavy-duty vehicles.
A comprehensive policy package would not only accelerate investment and adoption but also cut fuel imports, reduce costs, and strengthen Indonesia’s energy security by leveraging domestic renewable electricity.
Photo by Tenny Kristiana, Researcher at the ICCT.
Agora analysis highlights key milestones in China’s energy transition
A new data-driven analysis by Agora Energy China and Agora Energiewende reveals significant progress in China’s energy transition. In 2024, the country’s carbon emissions rose just 0.7 percent, a sharp slowdown from the 4.5 percent increase in 2023. Notably, early 2025 marked the first-ever decline in fuel combustion emissions—an achievement directly attributed to the rapid growth of clean energy. The report highlights a record-setting year for renewables, with China installing 277 GW of solar and 79 GW of wind capacity in 2024. For the first time, combined wind and solar capacity surpassed coal capacity, enabling China to meet its 2030 renewable energy target six years ahead of schedule. Led by electrification, industrial energy intensity fell by 3.5 percent, the equivalent of avoiding 130 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions.
Despite the momentum, structural challenges persist. The continued expansion of coal infrastructure and underutilization of thermal power plants point to systemic inefficiencies in the energy system. The Agora report identifies policy actions to address these challenges, including enhancing carbon pricing mechanisms, improving grid integration, and accelerating comprehensive energy market reforms. As China prepares its 15th Five-Year Plan and sets its 2035 climate targets, Agora’s findings offer timely analysis to inform a faster, economy-wide transition toward carbon neutrality.
Scaling healthy, climate-safe building design in India’s affordable housing program
GBPN recently hosted a workshop, “Healthy Buildings, Healthy Lives: Scaling Health and Well-Being Design Measures in India’s Affordable Housing Program,” at the International Healthy Building Conference, held from August 19 to 21 in Hyderabad, India. At the workshop, GBPN launched its new Design Guidelines for Healthy and Climate-Resilient Affordable Housing, which include practical, evidence-based measures to integrate health and well-being into affordable housing. GBPN’s interactive workshop was designed to equip policymakers and industry representatives with ways to incorporate these measures into India’s affordable housing sector. The workshop included a module where participants applied healthy building concepts to a real-world scenario.
The new Guidelines are integrated into a draft circulation of India’s revised National Building Code (NBC). The new provisions will be implemented in up to 30 million households by 2030, significantly improving the lives of residents and cutting emissions by 30 percent compared to current practices. Publishing the guidelines now empowers the private sector to immediately implement these updates when the revised NBC is finalized later this year.
ITDP Brazil explores electric bus readiness of key cities ahead of COP30
Electrifying Brazil’s public bus fleet is among the most effective ways to reduce GHG emissions and improve air quality across the region. Beyond environmental benefits, the transition to e-buses is crucial for improving public health, stimulating the economy, and enhancing urban life. A recent joint study from ITDP Brazil and the country’s Ministry of Cities demonstrated the feasibility and benefits of the large-scale electrification of public buses in Brazil.
The report, Accelerating the Transition: A Strategy to Electrify the Brazilian Bus Fleet by 2030, finds that in 18 of Brazil’s metropolitan regions, over 14,000 public diesel buses could be replaced with electric models without service disruption. This shift has the potential to reduce emissions by 25 percent, while also markedly improving public transportation operations and rider comfort. Ahead of COP30 in November, ITDP will join its partners at key events in Belém and Rio de Janeiro to promote these findings to global policymakers and shine a spotlight on Brazil’s model for e-bus investments and policies.
India’s state-level leadership on appliance efficiency
Last month, CLASP and the energy agency of Odisha, one of India’s fastest-growing states, launched a $12 million project to replace old, inefficient air conditioners and fans in government buildings with high-efficiency appliances. When governments purchase appliances in bulk, the price per unit drops significantly. This bulk procurement initiative will help Odisha reduce energy waste, lower the cost of energy-efficient appliances for consumers, and create healthier, more comfortable indoor spaces, while simultaneously cutting climate-warming emissions.
India is the world’s third-largest energy consumer in the appliances sector, with cooling accounting for almost 50 percent of total residential electricity demand. At COP28, India joined global governments in the pledge to double the average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements every year until 2030. To meet this goal, India will need to pair national appliance efficiency policies with robust on-the-ground implementation, in partnership with state agencies. Facilitated by CLASP, this new state project is an essential step in catalyzing climate action and capacity at multiple levels of government.
Hydrogen prioritization featured in German hydrogen diplomacy newsletter
A report by Agora Industry, the ICCT, and the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), outlining a structured approach to the “no-regret” use of renewable hydrogen as a limited and costly resource, was recently featured as a selected example in the hydrogen diplomacy newsletter H2-diplo, published by the German Foreign Office. The report distinguishes between applications that are well-suited for hydrogen consumption, such as industrial feedstocks, long-distance aviation, and maritime shipping; controversial uses like high-temperature industrial heat; and unsuitable uses where electrification is more efficient, including passenger cars, residential heating, or low-temperature industrial processes. The report’s inclusion in the widely circulated newsletter reflects continued demand for clear, evidence-based analysis to inform hydrogen policy and infrastructure planning in line with long-term climate goals.
EV charging project helps global policymakers advance smart electrification
After two years of analyzing the impact of electric vehicle (EV) smart charging, the results are in, and they are clear: Optimized, managed, or “smart” charging of EVs can generate multiple benefits for users, power systems, and the environment. To help decision-makers ambitiously deploy EVs and smart charging solutions, RAP’s global guide summarizes case studies from the world’s four largest EV markets: China, the U.S., the EU, and India. Working with the ICCT and local grid modelers, RAP showed that unlocking the flexibility of EVs’ potential via smart charging would generate significant monetary savings in each region. The global guide also contains key policy lessons to advance smart electrification. For example, the guide illustrates how to advance solar truck charging in India, solve grid bottlenecks in Europe, and reduce coal power capacity in China. RAP and the ICCT continue to present their findings at events and webinars for decision-makers in key markets.
Graphic summarizing results from four case studies conducted as part of the Smart e-Transport project from 2023 to 2025.