Call for Papers on Meeting Environmental Objectives Through Energy Sector Reforms in Asia and the Pacific: Role of Energy Pricing and Reforms Emissions Reduction

Meeting Environmental Objectives Through Energy Sector Reforms in Asia and the Pacific: Role of Energy Pricing and Reforms Emissions Reduction
Asian Development Bank Institute, the Australasian Journal of Environmental Management and Nazarbayev University
Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan

The energy sectors of Asia are carbon intensive. Delivering environmental objectives such as emissions reductions require several reforms in energy pricing and energy markets in Asia.

Energy prices are usually controlled or subsidized in developing Asian economies to reduce energy costs to low-income consumers and firms. However, the growing need to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to address climate change is prompting calls by international organizations such as the Asian Development Bank for energy pricing reforms. Energy pricing reforms have emerged as one of the most important policy challenges for developing Asia towards environmental protection and management.

Energy pricing reforms can also help to reduce government expenditure on energy subsidies, which in India, Indonesia, and Thailand is 2-4% of GDP, according to ADB. It can also promote investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency improvements. Understanding both the short- and long-term costs and benefits of energy pricing reforms in emission reductions is important for guiding implementation of energy pricing reforms in achieving the environmental objectives.

A number of reforms in energy pricing in Asia are likely to be required. Developed Asia has undergone reforms such as liberalization, privatization, and enhancement of competition related to generation, transmission, and distribution of energy. These reforms have differential effects on energy prices for households and industries engendering varying impacts on the environment. Although economic conditions vary for each country, the lessons learned from developed Asian countries can be applied in formulating energy reforms in the region’s developing economies while taking into account their local micro-macro and institutional factors.

ADBI invites original, unpublished papers addressing pricing of all forms of energy, including fossil fuels, electricity, and renewable energy, as well as its role in sustainable growth in Asia, to be presented at a workshop in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan on 10-11 March 2020. Priority topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Environmental management and regulation of the energy sector:
  • Recent developments
  • The need for reform
• Modelling impacts of energy pricing reforms:
  • Renewable energy and energy efficiency/intensity
  • GHG emission reduction scenarios
  • Preventing environmental degradation
  • Climate change adaptation and mitigation
• Case studies of energy pricing reforms, including:
  • The environment
  • Resource use
  • Motivation and objectives for reforms
  • Implementation and impacts of reforms
• GHG emissions reduction and Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs)
  • Role of energy sector pricing reforms
  • Environmental policies
• Linkage of energy pricing reforms and other policies, such as Emission Trading Schemes (ETS), carbon taxes, fossil fuel subsidies, and feed-in tariffs

Submission Procedure

Full papers or extended abstracts of at least 1,000 words should be submitted via this link no later than 30 December 2019. Please include the paper title; name, affiliation, and short biography of the author(s); contact information; and keywords with appropriate fields (JEL classifications).

Authors of selected papers/abstracts will be notified by 15 January 2020. A full draft paper should be submitted by 29 February 2020.

Only papers written in English will be considered. Early submissions with a full paper are preferred. All papers must adhere to the “Instructions for authors” of the Australasian Journal of Environmental Management.

Selected papers may be invited for submission to a special issue of the Australasian Journal of Environmental Management. There will be a standard peer review process of the selected papers.

Authors of selected papers will be invited to the paper development workshop in Nur-Sultan on 10-11 March 2020. ADBI will cover the return flight (economy class) and hotel stay for one author of each accepted paper, of whom must be a citizen of an Asian Development Bank member country.

Organizing Committee

• Naoyuki Yoshino, Asian Development Bank Institute
• Peter J. Morgan, Asian Development Bank Institute
• Dina Azhgaliyeva, Asian Development Bank Institute
• Farhad Taghizadeh-Hesary, Tokai University, Tokyo, Japan
• Rabindra Nepal, University of Wollongong, Australia
• Peter Howie, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan

Questions or inquiries may be directed to Dina Azhgaliyeva ([email protected]) & Farhad Taghizadeh-Hesary ([email protected])