New Delhi, 14 July 2023: The Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) co-hosted the 8^th Energy Research Institute Network (ERIN) Workshop, together with the Energy Research Network Secretariat and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), held at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, India.

The workshop was attended by distinguished ERIN members from the Institute of Energy Economics Japan (IEEJ); Auckland University, New Zealand; Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN), Malaysia; the Energy Research Institute (ERI), Chulalongkorn University, Thailand; TERI, India;  ERIA; and other distinguished institutes from around the world joining online. The academic debates and discussions from the workshop aimed to be the reference for energy and environment discussions with the G20.  

Professor Tetsuya Watanabe, President of ERIA, gave the workshop's opening remarks, introducing himself as the new ERIA President, and saying the ERIN Workshop was highly important to address the energy transition, which is becoming more and more important, was addressed at the G7 meeting held in Sapporo, Japan, and would be discussed at the G20 Energy Transition Ministerial Meeting in Goa, India. He addressed the importance of carbon neutral pathways, including the utilization of clean fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia co-firing, and other clean technologies such as carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS). He closed voicing ERIA’s support for the establishment of the Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC), initiated with Japan, together with ASEAN countries and Australia.     

Opening remarks were also delivered by Professor Tatsuya Terazawa, Chairman and CEO of IEEJ; and Dr Vibha Dhawan, Director General of TERI. The workshop continued with welcoming remarks by Dr Kulyos Audomvongseree, Director of the Energy Research Institute (ERI), Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, who is also the Chairperson of ERIN. The workshop also benefitted from the attendance of other high-level delegates, including Suman Berry, Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, India, who delivered a special address.

Professor Jun Arima, ERIA Senior Policy Fellow for Energy and Environment delivered the keynote speech, which addressed the theme of Energy Transition in the EAS Region. Prof Arima explained the transition pathways within the energy transition toward carbon neutrality, which are highly important to address, especially in emerging economies such as India and ASEAN countries.

Other ERIA researchers also actively engaged in the workshop as speakers in multiple sessions. Dr Han Phoumin, ERIA Senior Energy Economist, spoke in the first session which discussed the role of natural gas in the energy transition in Asia, on the theme of the need of natural gas/LNG in economic development. Shigeru Kimura, ERIA Special Advisor to the President for Energy Affairs, introduced low carbon energy transition-carbon neutral (LCET-CN) scenario, which is part of ERIA’s energy unit flagship activities, during the third session which discussed the energy transition in Asia.

During his closing remarks, Dr Siti Indati binti Mustapa, Director of Institute of Energy Policy and Research, UNITEN, Malaysia, who is also the Co-Chairperson of ERIN, spoke of the main takeaways of the workshop: the importance of availability, accessibility, and affordability of the energy supply; and financing and investments required to close the gap between climate ambition and energy reality. These key messages will be submitted to the G20 Energy Transition Ministerial Meeting for discussion.