The world is rapidly approaching breaking the 1.5C long-term average target of the Paris Agreement. 2024 marked the first calendar year where the Earth’s average surface temperature exceeded 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. If we are to decarbonize and achieve our collective climate goals, the world must decarbonize, and fast.

Approximately 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) are linked to infrastructure with the energy sector by far the biggest contributor. The International Energy Association (IEA) estimates that energy accounts for more than three-quarters of GHG emissions globally making investment in clean energy infrastructure key to achieving global climate goals.

As one of the largest 20 economies in the world, Australia has an important role to play in mitigating GHG emissions both domestically and abroad. Australia is home to some of the largest pools of investment capital in the world. Australia’s retirement savings are valued at US$2.4 trillion, the fourth largest in the world, and are the fastest growing retirement savings pool in the world. As the capital held by these funds grow, so does the need to deploy it, at scale. Having long outgrown their home market, these funds are increasingly looking abroad to invest.

The Australian Government’s “Invested: Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040” recognizes the opportunity for Australian capital to play an important role in supporting Southeast Asia’s green energy transition and closing its estimated US$3 trillion infrastructure investment gap to 2040. These efforts directly support the Baku to Belém Roadmap which will report back at COP30 on how to scale climate finance to US$1.3tn by 2035.

However, the challenges are acute. Australian investment in the region is underweight. Australian foreign investment stocks in Southeast Asian countries were worth A$123.1 billion in 2022, representing just 3.4 per cent of Australia’s total investment stocks abroad (A$3.7 trillion). Removing barriers to Australia’s investment in the region is key to get finance flowing and enable the region’s green energy transition.

Technology can and must play a critical role in de-risking Australian investment in the region and enabling the green energy transition. Megaprojects such as Suncable are demonstrating how Australian capital and technology can combine to support the region’s climate goals. Digital roadmaps, including burgeoning technology such as digital twins are not only derisking infrastructure investment, but they are also building new energy projects faster, cheaper and with a longer lifespan.

The event will demonstrate how Australian capital and know-how are helping to create a new generation of “shovel-worthy”, quality projects capable of delivering long-term benefits for Southeast Asia and the planet, helping to mobilize the US$1.3 billion in financial flows by 2035 called for the in the Baku to Belém Roadmap.