Actors, interests and forces shaping the energyscape of the Mekong region

Abstract

The linkages between energy and development are numerous and complex. Energy has been on the agenda of development actors for decades, but the emphasis has changed over time. In the past, the decisions and investments in energy sector have usually been justified in terms of achieving energy security. The term originates from the concerns generated by the first oil crisis (1973–1974) and it refers to security of supply in affordable prices. Since then energy security has been the dominant energy policy objective and an important argument to justify energy decisions. The fossil-fuel-based energy systems have been the main source of energy, but they have created enormous environmental externalities that for the past decades are receiving increasing attention. Currently, climate change has been put high on the political agenda across the globe, and there is a growing unanimity about the pressing needs to take action and to restructure the energy sector. In the developing country context, there is also a third challenge of providing access to sustainable modern energy services for the 1.4 billion who still do not have it. In the policy papers of different development actors, these three objectives—energy security, alleviation of energy poverty and climate change mitigation—are usually presented in a consensual and harmonious way, but in reality these are often in tension with one another (Newell et al., Citation2011). The decisions concerning energy production and distribution that are often rendered technical and administrative are inherently political. Energy policies and their implementation is the product of complex power play between divergent actors and their interests. A topical discussion now is what paths to follow to a low-carbon future. Does it include, for example, nuclear, so-called clean coal and large-scale hydropower dams? Or do these solutions, proposed by some actors as ‘clean energy’ renew rather than solve the inequities in the distribution of energy benefits and their human and ecological costs?... Show more