Global Energy Policy and East Asia Research Unit

日本語ページへ

Overview

Issues involving energy consumption are both multifaceted and global in nature. In Japan, energy issues assumed added significance after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster of 2011 and resulted in a greater need to raise public awareness of such issues. Therefore, energy policies must be made more transparent and communications among concerned parties must be improved.

International focus on energy demand has been shifting to China, India, and the ASEAN nations as the economies of these countries are rapidly expanding. One cannot discuss global energy demand and outlook without considering the supply-demand situation and energy policies in East Asia. However, on examining international energy governance in East Asia, one cannot support the notion that adequate efforts have been taken to ensure transparency of information and national policies, despite the various discussions facilitated through APEC and other arenas.

Global supply-demand dynamics are changing because of a surge in demand from emerging nations and the recent shale revolution; consequently, analyzing East Asia's energy demand structure and government policies, raising issues, and encouraging debate from a global viewpoint can prove to be worthwhile for both Japan and East Asia as a whole. Another promising effort can include submitting policy proposals to regional governments incorporating the latest energy policies and benchmarking their results. In support of this potential, we have decided to create a unit aimed at formulating policy proposals based on the analyses of current policies and suplydemand situations in East Asia.

Research

Examples of research proposals are listed below. Although these studies will primarily focus on individual countries, we plan to expand research and analyses to consider a broader regional framework including ASEAN, the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), and the overall East Asia region. Emphasis will be placed on interactions across various government ministries and agencies as well as discussions with energy users and academics throughout the ASEAN and East Asian regions. The research will be interdisciplinary and practical, and the results will be presented in the form of policy proposals.

• Study on an energy roadmap aimed at the promotion of energy-saving measures and the use of renewable energy with technology assessments
• Connectivity improvements in energy infrastructure
• Measures to deal with “energy poverty”
• Improvement of market mechanisms and price formations

• Energy Policy in Lao PDR and Myanmar: Issues and Implications - PARI-ERIA Joint Energy Research 2012
• Access to Energy in Rural Areas of Myanmar: An Electrification Policy from a Bottom-up Approach - PARI-ERIA Joint Energy Research for July 2013 to June 2014

Publications

• Meeting at IFRI (Institut Français des Relations Internationales) (Nov. 6, 2014)
• The 3rd East Asia Summit Energy Efficiency Conference in Phnom Penh Report (Jan. 16, 2015)
• IFRI-PARI Joint Workshop "Current Challenges in Security and Energy: Perspectives from Europe and Asia" Report (Mar. 23, 2015)
• PARI Policy Brief “Toward a sustainable electricity policy in Myanmar: Recommendations for policy makers and development partners” (Mar 26, 2018)

Event Reports

• Energy Policy Roundtable 2012
• The 1st Energy Policy Roundtable 2012 Report (Feb. 21, 2012)
• The 2nd Energy Policy Roundtable 2012 Report (Apr. 20, 2012)
• The 3rd Energy Policy Roundtable 2012 Report (Jul. 12, 2012)
• The 4th Energy Policy Roundtable 2012 Report (Oct. 11, 2012)
• The 5th Energy Policy Roundtable 2012 Report (Dec. 19, 2012)
• The 6th Energy Policy Roundtable 2012 Report (Jan. 31, 2013)

Related Articles

• Examining the Construction of the China-Myanmar Petroleum and Natural Gas Pipeline: Domestic Policy Process and International Energy Procurement (Summary of the report in Japanese by Liu Dawei and Yamaguchi Kensuke published on Ajiken World Trends, No.241, November. 2015: 35-42)

Directors

• Ichiro Sakata (Professor, Policy Alternatives Research Institute / Director and Professor, the Department of Technology Management for Innovation, Graduate School of Engineering / Professor, Institute of Engineering Innovation, School of Engineering / Special Advisor to the President)
• Hisashi Yoshikawa (Project Professor, Policy Alternatives Research Institute / Graduate School of Public Policy)

Members

• Hideaki Shiroyama (Vice Director and Professor, Policy Alternatives Research Institute / Graduate School of Public Policy / Graduate Schools for Law and Politics)
• Masahiro Sugiyama (Associate Professor, Policy Alternatives Research Institute)
• Kenji Tanaka (Project Associate Professor, the Department of Technology Management for Innovation, Graduate School of Engineering)
• Kensuke Yamaguchi (Project Assistant Professor, Policy Alternatives Research Institute)
• Jiayang Wang (Project Researcher, Policy Alternatives Research Institute)
• Daniel Del Barrio Alvarez (Project Researcher, Policy Alternatives Research Institute)

Back to Top