Reflexive Governance: ASEAN in Energy Transition

Abstract

To address climate change, multiple angles need to be tackled. One of the efforts is through energy transition, which involves moving towards the use of renewable energy. The Southeast Asia region, one of the vulnerable regions to climate change, needs to pay more attention to mitigating this uncertain condition. The responsibilities to do so are not just falling upon each government in the region, but also need to be considered by the leading intergovernmental organization, such as ASEAN. The issue of energy is not a current concern, as the energy ministers of ASEAN Member States have convened annually to discuss it since 1986. In relation to this, the purpose of this paper is to examine how ASEAN, as the leading institution in the region, has been governing to achieve a common goal in terms of renewable energy. The concept of reflexive governance is used to assess ASEAN’s capacity through three lenses: institutional learning mechanisms, cross-sectoral participation, and cognitive and normative adaptability. Based on the findings, we concluded that ASEAN, as an institution, has a moderate capacity for governing energy transition. Despite the limitations of this paper, the use of this emerging concept of reflexive governance can serve as an alternative framework for understanding how renewable energy governance should be implemented.