Opening Plenary 2022 - Asia Clean Energy Forum

Background

The opening plenary will highlight the key role of energy transition in attaining the climate targets in Asia and the Pacific and identify challenges and gaps to achieving them. It will discuss the NDC and net-zero commitments of DMCs and present a brief overview of the status of these commitments to provide a snapshot of where we are. The opening plenary will set the tone for ACEF 2022 by identifying the critical issues and gaps, and potential integrated solutions that will accelerate energy transition.

Objectives

The opening plenary aims to provide context to ACEF 2022 by discussing where we are now in terms of NDC and net-zero commitments. It will call attention to challenges and barriers that hamper the clean energy transition and to potential issues that could emerge as energy structures evolve. The opening plenary initiates the discussions on integrated solutions that address these challenges, which will be tackled in the sessions in the coming four days of ACEF 2022.

AGENDA

Time (Manila)	Activities
10:30 - 10:35 a.m.	Introduction to the Opening Plenary *Stephen Peters,* Senior Energy Specialist, Asian Development Bank
10:35 - 10:40 a.m.	Welcoming Remarks *Masatsugu Asakawa,* President, Asian Development Bank
10:40 - 11:15 a.m.	Introductory Remarks *Woochong Um,* Managing Director General and Officer-in-Charge, Vice-President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development, Asian Development Bank *Sang-Hoon Lee,* President, Korea Energy Agency *Gillian Caldwell,* Chief Climate Officer and Deputy Assistant Administrator, United States Agency for International Development
11:15 - 11:35 a.m.	Keynote Messages
	Net Zero Pathways: Challenges and Opportunities *Hoesung Lee,* Chair, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
	Accelerating Clean Energy Research, Development, and Deployment to Meet the Net-Zero Challenge in Asia *Martin Keller,* Director, National Renewable Energy Laboratory and President, Alliance for Sustainable Energy *Andrea Watson,* Laboratory Program Manager for Strategy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
11:35 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.	Panel Discussion: Accelerating Actions Towards Energy Transition At the rate that NDC action is currently being delivered, can climate targets be achieved by 2030? What are the key challenges that countries in Asia and the Pacific need to overcome to accelerate their energy transition? What integrated solutions or approaches support the energy transition? How can climate adaptation be incorporated in the transition? How can nations be supported in implementing these? How can MDBs close the financing gap to support energy transition and facilitate meeting the 1.5C Paris target? Panel moderator: *Priyantha Wijayatunga,* Chief of Energy Sector Group, Asian Development Bank Panelists: *Hongpeng Liu,* Director, Energy Division, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific *Sharan Burrow,* General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation *Arunabha Ghosh,* Chief Executive Officer, Council on Energy, Environment and Water *Wasantha Perera,* Secretary, Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Reforms, and former Secretary, Ministry of Power, Sri Lanka.