Climate Change−Energy Security Nexus in ASEAN: Quantitative text analysis using energy ministerial meeting statements

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) faces the urgent environmental challenge of reducing CO2 emissions from fossil fuels to limit the damage from climate change. Meanwhile, in addition to the climate change issues, ASEAN has the critical responsibility of ensuring energy security, including the need to supply stable and affordable energy. To determine how this climate change−energy security nexus has evolved in ASEAN, we examine statement documents released by the ASEAN Minister on Energy Meetings and its associated meetings. Our quantitative text analysis shows that: (1) as the discussions towards achieving carbon neutrality have progressed, the climate change issues have been increasingly highlighted, (2) the decarbonization of coal and diversification to renewable energy has received increasing attention, while energy efficiency and conservation discussions have stalled, (3) innovative technologies such as clean coal, renewable energy, and hydrogen have gained strong attention. Our analysis also finds that individual energy ministerial meetings feature different attitudes toward the climate change−energy security nexus, including in terms of their selection of energy technologies. Our study provides an opportunity to reflect on the direction that ASEAN’s climate change and energy policies should take in future.