Clean-Energy Supply Chains in the Indo-Pacific: Prioritizing the Quad’s Role
Martha Woods
In recognition of the Indo-Pacific region being vital to the clean-energy transition, the ‘Indo-Pacific Clean Energy Supply Chain Forum’ was hosted in July 2022 by Australia with support from its Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) partners. The clean-energy transition is expected to gain momentum in the coming years as regional countries race to meet their climate targets and attempt to reduce their energy insecurity by ceasing the import of fossil fuels. However, while this acceleration of the green transition is certainly desirable, the present clean-energy supply chains are not stable enough to facilitate the shift. The transition will only move the region’s dependence on China for energy as a consequence of Beijing’s current near-monopoly over clean-energy supply chains, making them vulnerable to disruptions and weaponization for foreign policy gains. As such, this paper aims to highlight how the Quad’s national drives, bilateral ties, available resources, experience and reach mean the grouping has a unique opportunity to step up cooperation towards establishing alternative clean-energy supply chains in the Indo-Pacific. These supply chains will contribute to the region’s green transition whilst also reducing energy insecurity and re-balancing geo-political power away from China.
Related Publications
-
Navigating the Indo-Pacific: How Australia and the EU Can Partner for Peace, Stability, and Prosperity
To navigate the choppy waters of the Indo-Pacific, the EU and Australia must be on the same wavelength regarding shared interests in rules, values, and an open and liberal economic […]
-
Maldives Walking Tight Rope between India and China
Like all the South Asian small states, the Maldives has been subjected to great power politics. There are five principles of Maldives’ foreign policy (mostly reciprocating with India’s ‘Panchsheel’) and […]
-
Needed, a Framework to Protect Undersea Cables
In the data-driven world we live in, submarine cables are the arteries that connect nation-states and their people in literally every human activity, including trade, commerce, entertainment, and social interactions. […]
-
ISDP Annual Report 2023
ISDP’s Annual Report for the year 2023. We look back on 2023, a year in which tensions and conflicts captured the strategic space in ISDP’s focus areas, making headlines around […]
-
Indo-Pacific Security in 2030-35: Links in the Chain
In recent years, events like the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war have brought global supply chains squarely under the spotlight. The economic impact of these disruptive events exposed the […]