How Can Asia Achieve a Net Zero Future? Building Coalitions for Transformative Change

Asia’s growing vulnerability to a warming climate and significant share of greenhouse gas (GHG) makes achieving a net zero future a development imperative in the region. But what steps will countries in Asia need to take to make such a future feasible? To be sure, some of the key changes will be seamless and straightforward; however, many of the shifts necessitate hard sacrifices and overcoming entrenched interests. In fact, there will require building outside-the-box thinking about cross-collaboration among government, industry and other stakeholders. This side event entitled ‘How can Asia Achieving a Net Zero Future in Asia?’ is intended to spotlight the opportunities and challenges to reaching across the aisle to build coalitions for transformative changes within and across countries in Asia. This will need greater collaboration between governments at national, sub-national city-to- city as well as industry and civil society to accelerate transition to a carbon neutral Asia. In examining ways that key stakeholders can work together, the side event will feature how new modes of socio-technological collaboration such as technology co-innovation can facilitate transitions. The side event will have a frank discussion with stakeholders from Asia around on their experiences and views on accelerating to net-zero goals. The key questions that will guide the discussion are:

•    How can technology and innovation usher a transformative change in Asia to accelerate towards net-zero targets?
•    How can government, both at national and city level strengthen industry collaboration for Asia’s transition to net-zero?