ABSTRACT
Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam are far from being a set of similar or even homogeneous countries. Together they constitute Southeast Asia, a fascinating and ever-changing region that does not only attract attention from political scientists. Cultural diversity, political transformation processes and economic development, together with environmental threats and social conflicts, enable a broad range of studies for social scientists. Governance challenges with an impact on energy transitions arise from rapid political change, power shifts and uncertainties combined with decentralization and democratization processes – especially in not yet fully consolidated political systems. Energy demand is increasing rapidly due to economic progress and impressive development success. Together with China and India, Southeast Asian countries are “shifting the centre of gravity of the global energy system to Asia” due to “a near tripling of the region’s economy” (IEA 2013, p. 11), but not without massive environmental threats. Because most additional energy is predicted to come from coal, CO2 emissions are expected to almost double by 2035, reaching 2.3 Gt. Donors have long promoted environmental protection and renewable energy project in the region, but with limited structural success so far. Exploration of the reasons for this needs to take into account the complexity of governance arrangements and political systems. When talking about energy transitions, it is necessary to consider sociopolitical issues such as corruption patterns, local autonomy, power distribution and interjurisdictional conflicts.
