sustainability Asia's Textile Recycling Drive Speeds Up as EU Rules Near Vietnam, Bangladesh and Cambodia are building chemical textile-recycling capacity as EU Extended Producer Responsibility deadlines reshape apparel export markets.
Green Hydrogen Asia's Green Hydrogen Export Corridors Take Shape as Japan and Korea Lock In Offtake Deals Japanese and Korean buyers have signed long-term offtake agreements with Australian and Gulf hydrogen producers, formalising import corridors that were largely theoretical just two years ago.
EV batteries Asia's First EV Battery Recycling Plants Come Online as Early Fleets Reach Retirement Age New large-scale battery recycling plants in China, South Korea and Indonesia begin operation as the region's earliest electric vehicles reach retirement, with collection remaining the main hurdle.
carbon markets Asia Shifts From Voluntary Offsets to Compliance Carbon Markets as Cross-Border Credit Deals Multiply Across Asia, governments are moving from discretionary offset schemes toward mandatory emissions-pricing systems and Article 6 cross-border carbon credit deals, with integrity emerging as the defining concern of the region's market build-out.
renewable energy Floating Solar Spreads Across Asia's Reservoirs as Land Pressure Reshapes Renewable Siting As flat land grows scarce and costly, Asian economies are floating solar arrays on reservoirs and hydropower lakes, reshaping where renewable energy gets built.
ASEAN ASEAN Moves to Harmonise Air-Conditioner Efficiency Rules as Cooling Demand Climbs Southeast Asian energy regulators are working toward aligned minimum efficiency standards for room air conditioners, a step aimed at curbing the region's fastest-growing source of electricity demand.
sustainability Southeast Asia Reactivates Cross-Border Haze Monitoring as Dry Season Fire Risk Rises Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore have reactivated joint haze-monitoring channels and peatland fire-prevention measures ahead of a forecast dry stretch over Sumatra and Borneo.
Plastic Waste Southeast Asia Tightens Plastic Waste Import Rules as Regional River-Cleanup Treaty Advances Four Southeast Asian governments moved this month to restrict imports of foreign plastic scrap, while negotiators advanced a separate regional pact to fund cleanup of the rivers that carry most of the world's ocean plastic. The twin developments mark the region's sharpest policy turn yet on
Mangroves Asia's Mangrove Forests: What Decades of Clearing Cost and What Recovery Actually Looks Like Asia has lost more than a third of its mangrove cover since the 1970s. What caused the clearing, what the ecological cost has been, and where restoration is producing durable results.
ASEAN Power Grid ASEAN Revives Cross-Border Power Trade as Singapore Pushes Low-Carbon Electricity Imports Southeast Asian ministers move to widen cross-border electricity trade, but cables, financing and transit tariffs still stand between rhetoric and regional grid integration.
Asia Indonesia Crosses 2.7 GW of Geothermal Capacity as June Auction Adds 12 New Fields Indonesia pushed installed geothermal capacity past 2.7 GW and opened a 12-field tender, sharpening Asia's effort to replace coal baseload with firm renewable heat.
e-waste Asia's E-Waste Economy: The Urban Mine Caught Between Informal Workshops and Formal Recyclers Asia generates more electronic waste than any other region on earth, a direct consequence of being both the world's factory and one of its fastest-growing consumer markets. The United Nations' Global E-waste Monitor has tracked the trend for years, and its figures put Asia's share
urban heat island Urban Heat Islands Across Asia: How Cities Are Measuring and Addressing the Temperature Gap Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul, and Chinese pilot cities are measuring and acting on urban heat island effects — a local temperature problem distinct from global warming that worsens as cities expand regardless of emissions trajectories.
sustainability Why battery storage, not solar panels, is now Asia's renewable bottleneck Asia has installed solar at a staggering pace. The harder problem now is what to do with that power when the sun isn't shining — and storage is where the race has moved.
sustainability Asia sustainability week 24 May 2026: Japan carbon market scales, China mandates 4-hour storage, Indonesia nickel deforestation flagged Tokyo carbon market hits 4.2M tonnes weekly, China's 4-hour storage mandate for solar projects above 100 MW, Indonesian nickel satellite data flagging 18,400 hectares cleared, Singapore's $400M coal-retirement vehicle.
Thailand Thailand Approves $9.2 Billion Floating Solar Scheme Across Nine Reservoirs Thailand's National Energy Policy Council approved a 9.2 billion dollar, 4.8 gigawatt floating solar programme across nine reservoirs on May 19, 2026.
carbon Japan Carbon Border Adjustment Vote Set for July 2026: How the Bill Will Reshape Asian Trade Flows Japan's lower house is set to vote on its version of a carbon border adjustment mechanism in July 2026, with implementation phased from January 2028. The bill targets cement, steel and aluminium imports — and the redirected trade flows are already moving.
offshore wind Vietnam Offshore Wind Q2 2026: Why the Long-Delayed Permit Reform Finally Cleared 14 GW of Stalled Capacity Vietnam had a 7 GW offshore wind ambition that stalled for three years on permit dysfunction. The Q2 2026 reform of the National Energy Development Plan unlocks the pipeline — and finally lets European and Asian developers commit capital that had been parked.
South Korea South Korea's Steel Sector Commits to Hydrogen DRI With $14 Billion Pohang Plan South Korea's three largest steelmakers committed on May 9 to 20 trillion won of hydrogen-based direct reduced iron capacity at Pohang and Dangjin by 2035, with first commercial HyREX in 2029.
Singapore Singapore Sets 2030 Carbon Border Adjustment, Asia's First CBAM-Style Rule Singapore confirmed on May 6 that it will require carbon disclosure on seven imported product categories from 2030, with full price adjustment from 2032. It is Asia's first formal border carbon mechanism.
South Korea South Korea Announces $40 Billion Green Hydrogen Strategy Targeting 2030 Industrial Deployment Across Steel, Shipping and Petrochemicals South Korea unveiled a $40 billion green hydrogen industrial strategy on Monday, targeting deployment in steel, shipping, and petrochemicals by 2030, with major investments by POSCO, HD Hyundai, and SK Group.
Vietnam Vietnam's National Power Plan VIII Hits 21 GW of Solar in Q1 2026 as Investment Surges Past $4.7 Billion Vietnam's revised National Power Development Plan VIII reached the 21 gigawatt solar milestone three quarters ahead of schedule, with private investment driving the acceleration.
China carbon market China's National Carbon Market Expands to Aluminium and Steel, Tripling Coverage to 60% of Emissions Beijing brings 1,672 aluminium and steel plants into the national carbon market, more than tripling coverage and reshaping CBAM exposure for exporters.
Vietnam Vietnam Reaches Final Investment Decision on First Commercial Offshore Wind Project A 600 MW offshore wind farm reaches FID with a USD 2.7 billion budget and a 25-year PPA at USD 0.084/kWh.
Plastic Pollution Asia-Pacific Nations Agree on Unified Plastic Pollution Treaty at Bangkok Summit 34 Asia-Pacific nations sign a binding plastic pollution treaty in Bangkok, setting 25% production cuts and 50% recycling targets by 2030.
