Philippines, Asia’s RE transition unfazed by Trump-led US exit from Paris Agreement

Despite President Donald Trump’s recent executive order (EO) to withdraw the United States (US) from the Paris Agreement, energy stakeholders in the Philippines believe his current policies will have minimal impact on renewable energy (RE) growth in Asia.

- By GABRIELL CHRISTEL GALANG

During the Renewable Energy Forum 2025 on Wednesday, April 2, a panel discussion, moderated by Manila Bulletin’s seasoned energy journalist Myrna Velasco, elaborated on the effects of Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, a global treaty aimed at addressing climate change by setting a cap on global warming.

To recall, in January 2025, Trump withdrew the US from the landmark Paris climate agreement as a pledge to his “Drill, baby, drill” initiative, which pushes for more oil and gas reserves and production.

Department of Energy (DOE) Undersecretary Rowena Guevara saw an upside to the Philippines’ situation, stating that, “I look at this as an opportunity for the [Asian] region to flourish in RE. We have partnerships among us, and we have leaders like China, Japan, [South] Korea, and India that are already leading the renewable energy market.”

“While all of these things are happening on the other side of the world, good things continue to happen in our little part of the country,” she added.

Maria Theresa Capellan, founder and chairperson of Philippine Solar and Storage Energy Alliance (PSSEA), mentioned that there hasn’t been any significant slowdown in terms of solar integration.

According to Capellan, global solar installation has reached one terawatt (TW), with forecasts of another one TW to be added within the next five years.

“I believe that such a momentum is not going to be affected because if you look at the numbers and dissect it, a big portion of the TW [solar capacity] is coming from China, in South-east [Asia], and in Asia [in general].”