Asia Energy and Sustainability Initiative

The Asia Energy and Sustainability Initiative (AESI) provides first-rate scholarly analysis and independent research relating to the intersection of innovation, energy policy and technology, and environmental outcomes in Asia.

As a research-based collaboration among the Ash Center, the Belfer Center, and the Sustainability Science Program, AESI marshals the expertise of three preeminent Harvard Kennedy School research centers to study the drivers of change in energy markets and energy sustainability in Asia. In particular, the Initiative leverages the Ash Center’s depth in the study of governance and policy innovation in Asia, the Belfer Center’s expertise in energy technology and energy policy, and draws on the Sustainability Science Program’s system-based analysis of sustainable development.

Asia: The Major Player in the Global Energy Market

The Asian region is home to the majority of the world’s population and several of the world’s most rapidly developing economies. Economic development at such scale and speed has required the related development of considerable energy supply. Asia as a region now dominates the global energy landscape, consuming over one-third of the world’s primary energy, three-quarters of Middle East oil exports, and well over 90 percent of global coal consumption growth over the past decade. Asia is also now home to the world’s largest energy market: China. Identifying a sustainable model for such economic development requires an understanding of the environmental, economic, and political drivers of this historical change.

Our Work

AESI engages in three substantive areas of work:

  • Research at the intersection of public policy and private investment in energy markets across Asia
  • The training of top executives from leading energy state-owned enterprises in Asia
  • Long-term exchanges with leading research fellows and faculty from Asia in the areas of energy and sustainability

For more information on AESI, please contact AESI Director Edward Cunningham.