The ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) has issued a call for a deeper, more comprehensive approach to methane emissions in the region’s energy sector, warning that a narrow focus on short-term, cost-effective fixes could undermine Southeast Asia’s climate ambitions and energy resilience.

The observation was detailed in a new strategic proposal by Anis Zhafran and Shania Esmeralda Manaloe, who argue that while rapid, affordable interventions are vital, they must be complemented by longer-term, systemic measures.

Methane management has rapidly moved up the policy agenda for the ten ASEAN Member States (AMS), capped off by the first-ever ASEAN Methane Energy High-Level Policy Dialogue held in Jakarta in June.

This landmark event brought together policymakers from seven AMS and Timor-Leste, alongside energy sector leaders and technical experts, to address gaps and opportunities in curbing methane, a powerful greenhouse gas with a global warming potential far exceeding that of carbon dioxide.

Following that, on June 13, ACE, in collaboration with the ASEAN Council on Petroleum (ASCOPE) and the World Bank’s Global Flaring and Methane Reduction Partnership (GFMR), launched the Methane Management Roadmap for Oil and Gas in ASEAN. The document outlines strategies for scaling up monitoring, reporting, verification, and abatement of methane emissions.

Short-Term Wins Are Not Enough

The argument advanced by Zhafran and Manaloe is clear: immediate, low-cost interventions—such as leak detection and repair or replacing ageing pneumatic devices—offer “quick wins” but address only the most accessible, low-hanging sources of methane.

While several ASEAN countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, are already deploying these measures with demonstrated positive returns, structural sources of methane, like emissions from ageing facilities or unmonitored coal seams, require far more investment and policy support.

“A narrow focus on cost-effective solutions may leave legacy emissions untouched, creating long-term climate liabilities,” the authors caution. They note that as ASEAN’s energy demand continues to surge, the decisions made now will shape the region’s emissions profile for decades to come.

This op-ed is published on BusinessToday Malaysia. Read the full article here.