Philippines down to 105th spot in energy transition index

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines slid 11 notches in a World Economic Forum (WEF) index tracking progress and readiness in energy transition.

Based on the WEF report,  the Philippines placed 105th out of 120 economies in this year’s Energy Transition Index, down from 94th the previous year.

The Philippines got a score of 48.4 this year, lower than the 50.2 score last year.

Economies are given a score from 0 to 100, with 100 being the highest performance.

WEF assesses economies’ energy system performance by looking at equity or fair distribution of energy, security and sustainability, while transition readiness is evaluated based on the policies and regulatory framework, infrastructure, innovation, education and human capital and finance and investment.

Within Southeast Asia, the Philippines lagged behind its neighbors Vietnam, which placed 32nd; Malaysia (40th), Indonesia (54th), Thailand (60th), Singapore (64th), Lao People’s Democratic Republic (72nd), Cambodia (77th) and Brunei Darussalam (96th).

Overall, Sweden topped the Energy Transition Index for this year.

Denmark came in next, followed by Finland in third spot.

The WEF said that while 107 of the 120 countries in the report showed progress on their energy transition journeys in the past decade, the overall pace of the transition has slowed.

It said economic volatility, heightened geopolitical tensions and technological shifts have all affected the speed and trajectory of the energy transition.

Increasing global investments in renewables and the significant growth in energy transition performance in sub-Saharan Africa over the past decade, however, were cited as reasons to be optimistic.

Roberto Bocca, head  of the Center for Energy and Materials at WEF, said there is a need to ensure that energy transition is equitable in emerging and developed economies.

“Transforming how we produce and consume energy is critical to success. We need to act on three key levers for the energy transition urgently: reforming the current energy system to reduce its emissions, deploying clean energy solutions at scale and reducing energy intensity per unit of GDP (gross domestic product),” Bocca said.