Ocean Climate Dialogue focuses on advancing effective blue carbon governance
Blue carbon was in focus this month as experts, policymakers and stakeholders gathered in Jakarta for the Ocean Climate Dialogue 2026 (OCD).
23.02.26
Climateworks experts on the key trends in climate action for 2026
Climateworks experts share the trends and opportunities that will define the year ahead, and what they mean for governments, industry and communities navigating the shift to a net zero economy.
Phat Pumchawsaun announced as Southeast Asia Lead
Climateworks Centre has announced energy transition and decarbonisation specialist Phat Pumchawsaun as our new Southeast Asia Lead. Phat Pumchawsaun is Climateworks Centre’s new Southeast Asia Lead.
22.01.26
Climateworks Centre and the Center for Environmental, Social, and Governance Studies partner to support net zero goals in Indonesia
Monash University’s Climateworks Centre and the Center for Environmental, Social, and Governance Studies (CESGS) at the Universitas Airlangga in Surabaya, Indonesia, signed an MoU to formalise a strategic partnership.
10.12.25
COP 30: The wins, the curveballs, and the roadmaps
When politics get tough, climate progress shifts from bold statements to roadmaps, coalitions of the willing and acts of solidarity. A mixed backdrop The 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) in Belém, Brazil, opened against a backdrop of both promising developments and unprecedented headwinds.
Climateworks Centre and the Purnomo Yusgiantoro Center enter partnership to launch Indonesia Net Zero Campus Program
On 17 November 2025, Monash University’s Climateworks Centre and Purnomo Yusgiantoro Center (PYC) signed an MoU to cement their continued collaboration on accelerating Indonesia’s transition to net zero emissions.
18.11.25
Climateworks Centre and Mission Possible Partnership launch new initiative to drive clean manufacturing in ASEAN
A new project initiated by Climateworks Centre, in collaboration with Mission Possible Partnership, will focus on accelerating a transformation to clean industry in Southeast Asia and strengthening the region’s global competitiveness through a focus on clean manufacturing. Funded by the ASEAN-UK Green Transition Fund (GTF), the Clean Manufacturing for Promoting ASEAN Competitiveness and Transformation (C-IMPACT) project is one of the key workstreams within the Pillar III clean and just energy transition and will pursue a coordinated approach to reducing manufacturing emissions in ASEAN and Timor-Leste.
06.10.25
Vietnamese business leaders come together to accelerate net zero
The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), in partnership with Monash University’s Net Zero Academy and Climateworks Centre, is launching a two-day Net Zero Leadership Program to equip Vietnamese business leaders with the tools, knowledge and strategic insights to thrive in a net zero emissions world. Participants, organisers and presenters of the program in Ho Chi Minh City on 30 July, 2025.
01.08.25
Ho Chi Minh City to lead Vietnam’s industrial transformation
Monash University’s Climateworks Centre and the Ho Chi Minh Institute for Development Studies (HIDS) have launched a consultation on the first-of-its-kind roadmap for transforming Ho Chi Minh City’s major industrial zones into net zero industrial precincts (NZIPs).
29.07.25
Speech: Anna Skarbek speaks on Climateworks’ Indonesia office’s five year anniversary
An edited extract from Anna Skarbek’s remarks on 17 June 2025, at a celebration of the fifth anniversary of Climateworks Centre’s Indonesia office, held at Wisma Habibie Ainun, South Jakarta. Climateworks Centre CEO Anna Skarbek AM speaks at the fifth anniversary celebrations.
20.06.25
Six leading organisations commit to strengthen climate collaboration in Indonesia
Six leading organisations have formalised a strategic partnership at the Fifth Australia-Indonesia Energy Transition Policy Dialogue to accelerate the nation’s clean energy transition through collaborative research, policy support and institutional cooperation. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in Jakarta by Climateworks Centre, Centre for Policy Development (CPD), Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR), International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), Indonesia Research Institute for Decarbonization (IRID) and Purnomo Yusgiantoro Center (PYC).
18.06.25
Australia’s election result offers certainty to a region in flux
The 2025 Australian federal election delivered a decisive mandate to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Party, which secured at least 85 seats in the House of Representatives.
19.05.25
Climateworks welcomes new executive overseeing international programs
Climateworks Centre is pleased to announce Trang Nguyen as the new Head of International Programs and Engagement. Previously, Trang served as Climateworks’ Southeast Asia Lead.
16.05.25
Southeast Asia’s critical role as a green industrial leader [↗️ Lowy Institute]
The region’s industrial transformation remains the key for long- term economic prosperity – and the world’s climate goals, write Trang Nguyen and Jannata (Egi) Giwangkara for the Lowy Institute Interpreter.
24.03.25
Opportunities for Europe–Southeast Asia–Australia collaboration in a sustainable economy, says Director-General, European Commission Directorate-General for Climate Action
Having successfully decoupled emissions from economic growth, the European Union aims to be the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, Director-General, European Commission Directorate-General for Climate Action, Kurt Vandenberghe, told a Melbourne panel.
Playing to industrial strengths to lead green supply chain
Vietnam’s rise to middle-income country status has been almost singular in its pace, typified by three-fold growth in per-capita GDP over the past 20 years and an 11 per cent decline in the poverty rate in the last decade alone. Vietnam’s highly trade-oriented development – which last year grew nearly four times the middle-income country average – has been increasingly driven by energy-intensive manufactured goods and industrial products. Industrial transformation is a critical imperative for Vietnam’s long-term economic viability and competitiveness.
20.12.24
Indonesia’s energy transition crossroads: New administration, old challenges
Indonesia ushered in a new presidential administration, and climate circles around the country and region are speculating what the Prabowo administration means for climate progress. Through the Paris Agreement and its Long-Term Strategy for Low Carbon and Climate Resilience 2050, Indonesia has committed to be a net zero economy, indicating it can be a low-carbon economy by 2060 or earlier. Climate is not the only item on the administration’s agenda.
Southeast Asia needs serious money to get to net zero
Financing has long been recognised as a barrier to accelerating decarbonisation in Southeast Asia. A successful transition to a low-carbon economy – especially in the region’s low- and middle-income countries – will rely heavily on two things. The first is international concessional finance and the second, stronger climate targets to accelerate investor interest. Both are expected to be determined at COP29. Countries must update their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by February 2025 under the terms of the Paris Agreement, and leaders will announce the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG), a new set of financing commitments to support developing countries in their climate actions post 2025.
08.11.24
Speech: Anna Skarbek speaks on Climateworks’ 15 year anniversary
An edited excerpt from Anna Skarbek’s remarks on 17 October 2024, celebrating Climateworks Centre’s 15th anniversary at the State Library of Victoria.
25.10.24
New program to transform industrial zones launches in Ho Chi Minh City
Climateworks Centre has launched a new program to facilitate the establishment of net zero industrial precincts in Vietnam. This follows an MOU signed by Climateworks and Ho Chi Minh Institute of Development Studies on the sideline of Ho Chi Minh City Economic Forum (HEF).
25.09.24
Southeast Asian climate, energy leaders learn from Australian experience
A holistic, multidimensional approach to the energy transition was central to a two-week immersive experience for climate and energy leaders from Indonesia and Vietnam in early 2024. Climateworks Centre hosted 15 leaders for the inaugural Southeast Asia Just Energy Transition Fellowship Program, as part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Australia Awards Fellowships in February.
20.06.24
Australia-Vietnam Green Economy Summit fosters new collaborations for the low carbon transition
In April, Climateworks Centre co-hosted the inaugural Australia-Vietnam Green Economy Summit in Vietnam, where business leaders, policymakers and industry experts discussed the acceleration of opportunities for green economy investment and trade between the two countries.
29.04.24
Summit to strengthen green economy opportunities for Vietnam, Australia
Australian Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy Senator the Hon Jenny McAllister will meet Vietnamese and Australian business leaders, policymakers and industry experts in Vietnam to discuss how the countries can accelerate opportunities for green economy investment and trade.
15.04.24
Green economy summit: How can Australia get more from its relationship with Vietnam?
Next week, more than 100 green energy, technology, education and finance companies from Australia and Vietnam will gather in Ho Chi Minh City.
12.04.24
Climate and clean energy sit high on Australia’s ASEAN agenda
This week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese welcomed leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states and Timor Leste for a special ASEAN summit in Melbourne, where – for the first time – climate and clean energy featured as a key agenda item.
06.03.24
Climateworks Centre hosts Southeast Asia Just Energy Transition Fellowship program
Fifteen climate and energy leaders from Indonesia and Vietnam have converged on Melbourne for the Southeast Asia Just Energy Transition Fellowship.
19.02.24
One year into the Indonesia and Vietnam’s Just Energy Transition Partnerships [↗️ Lowy Institute]
It’s a long and winding road – but the destination is crucial, writes Trang Nguyen for the Lowy Institute Interpreter (link opens Lowy Institute website).
06.02.24
Vietnam’s challenge to wean off coal [↗ Lowy Institute]
Fossil fuels have driven rapid growth but the country has pledged – with global help – to be carbon neutral by 2050, writes Trang Nguyen for the Lowy Institute (link opens Lowy Institute website).
02.01.24
Who pays and how: The COP28 dilemma of debt and equity
COP28 will take stock of the step change in ambition needed, but the gulf in climate finance promises and realities presents an obstacle to a stronger action.
23.10.23
Climate solutions are already in our nature
From natural seawalls to mangroves, countries are starting to combat climate change with nature-based solutions. COP28 might drive more of these efforts.
23.10.23
Australia-Vietnam Green Economy Program: Catalysing sustainable business collaboration
Australia and Vietnam have shared ambitions to realise opportunities within the green economy, and the Australia-Vietnam Green Economy Program aims to reshape the contours of the green economy by equipping Australian businesses with the knowledge, capabilities and networks to catalyse sustainable business collaboration with Vietnam.
03.10.23
Asia-Pacific can ‘accelerate climate actions with strengthened collaboration’: Professor John Thwaites AM
The Asia-Pacific’s greenhouse gas emissions keep rising and in some respects the region is going backwards. Climate action was the only Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 13) in which outcomes went backwards in the Asia-Pacific between 2015 and 2023.
19.09.23
Championing decarbonisation in Southeast Asia
Climateworks is prioritising work with countries in Southeast Asia with high projected emissions growth, creating solutions that can be shared and scaled throughout the region. Our approach focuses on partnerships, coalition building and capacity building. In the past month, our work in the region has touched on all three of these areas, giving us opportunities to share solutions as well as learn from others championing the region’s decarbonisation.
21.06.23
MoU between Monash, Climateworks and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry will assist Indonesia’s private sector to decarbonise
KADIN Net Zero Hub has signed a two-year MoU with Monash University, Indonesia and Climateworks Centre to build capacity within Indonesia’s private sector and to accelerate corporate commitment to net zero emissions.
24.04.23
Policy wields most power in climate mitigation
The final report of the IPCC’s sixth assessment cycle shows we have the tools, but not much time, to keep the global goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C within reach The end of the IPCC’s sixth assessment cycle marks a crossroads for global climate ambition.
30.03.23
Opportunities for Vietnam as global net zero economy emerges, corporate climate briefing hears
As a global player and a manufacturing hub experiencing economic growth, Vietnam can grasp the opportunities of the green economy by playing a central role in climate action, a briefing event has heard.
20.01.23
ASEAN, Australia and the role of climate cooperation in Southeast Asia’s net zero goals
Southeast Asia’s importance to the global goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius cannot be overstated. The region’s rapid economic development, coupled with growing climate ambition, provide myriad opportunities for decarbonisation and a strong imperative to act.
19.10.22
Indonesian ocean project secures involvement of both prominent marine scientist and leading environmental economist
A Climateworks project exploring ocean-based mitigation has secured the involvement of leading regional figures in marine science, climate policy and environmental economics. Professor Luky Adrianto has been appointed as chair of the Indonesian stakeholder steering committee for Climateworks’ Southeast Asia Framework for Ocean Action in Mitigation (SEAFOAM) project.
20.09.22
Sustainable finance can support ASEAN states’ net zero ambitions
At the COP26 in Glasgow, most ASEAN member states renewed their decarbonisation commitments, with nine out of ten members committing to net zero targets.
20.07.22
Does Indonesia’s carbon tax have the power to trigger a sustainable market shift?
In the middle of the year, the Indonesian government will put its carbon tax into practice through a pilot program directed at coal-fired power plants, but it’s yet to be determined how much it will reduce Indonesia’s greenhouse emissions.
Nations with developing economies are eager to decarbonise, they just need the finance they were promised
There is no lack of understanding in how such funds would be put to good use: Our Investment Vision Guide developed last year offers a template for how investment, once delivered, can be strategically applied.
ASEAN’s Emerging Mission for a Low Carbon Energy Transition
To date, almost all Southeast Asian nations have announced net zero emissions pledges, accounting for about 91 percent of the region’s carbon emissions.
ASEAN Green Future Project: Further, Faster, Together
The world is currently at a tipping point where the implementation of the national decarbonization commitments made at COP26 will largely determine whether the world can realise the 1.5°C aspiration of the Paris Agreement.
29.11.21
Chasing Southeast Asia’s green future
Climateworks recently brought together an expert panel to discuss the outlook for ASEAN nations, given their key trading partners have all pledged to net-zero by mid-century.
Indonesia raises their net zero ambition – can they be a leader for climate commitments in Southeast Asia?
Guntur Sutiyono is our Country Lead for Indonesia.Alin Halimatussadiah is LPEM-FEBUI Head of Environmental Economics Research Group. Indonesia’s new long term low-carbon and climate resilience strategy – which includes aspirations to reach net zero emissions by 2060 or sooner – is a sign the nation can be a leader for climate ambition.
Leaders Summit on Climate: Nations step up commitments, but what does it mean for countries in our region?
Last week, United States President Joe Biden hosted the Leaders Summit on Climate. The President invited 40 leaders from around the world, including 17 countries from the US-led ‘Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate’ – responsible for close to 80 per cent of global emissions and gross domestic product. Other invitees included leaders from nations demonstrating strong climate leadership, those especially vulnerable to climate impacts, or those charting innovative pathways to a net-zero economy.
Climateworks’ Meg Argyriou joins Asia Society’s ‘Disruptive Asia’ panel.
‘How do we ensure our post-COVID recovery is green, clean, and aligned with delivering on the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals?’ That was the question posed by a special session of the ‘Disruptive Asia’ webcast held by the Asia Society on 30 July 2020, featuring Meg Argyriou (Head of International Programs at Climateworks Australia), Patrick Suckling (Asia Society Policy Institute non-resident Senior Fellow and former Australian Ambassador for the Environment), Chi Mun Woo (Partner, Sustainability and Climate Change at Deloitte) and Professor Rebekah Brown (Senior Vice-Provost and Vice Provost Research at Monash University).
01.10.20
Monash internship turned dream job for Jakarta local
Petra Christi recently joined Climateworks as a business analyst in our growing international program. Based in Indonesia, Petra will work alongside senior project manager Guntur Sutiyono and support the development of Natural Disaster Insurance Framework and Sustainable Finance in Indonesia. Petra first encountered Climateworks through the Monash ‘work integrated learning’ program (WIL).
16.09.20
New guide supports decision-makers to unlock green growth and investment opportunities
Growing evidence shows, for countries to achieve low carbon growth, decision-makers must create investment environments that steer finance from ‘brown’ to ‘green’.
14.09.20
High level engagement in our Southeast Asia and Pacific programs
Our international team has recently launched a series of discussion papers on low carbon opportunities in Southeast Asia. Off the back of this launch, international project manager Dani Robertson spoke to Devex about building the case for a green economy.
09.10.19
Climateworks International team revs up
Meg Argyriou, Climateworks Head of International Programs, and her team have been running and participating in panels and events around the world. Meg visited Indonesia to sit on a panel for the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry’s long term strategy.
01.06.19
Energy efficiency key priority for Asia Pacific
Energy efficiency continues to be a key policy concern for governments and an increasing focus for business throughout the Asia Pacific.