Green pathways: Climate governance and Asia in action

At the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2026, which is set to open on March 24, climate governance is expected to be a central topic amid growing global uncertainty.

Discussions on climate finance, regional cooperation and green transition are likely to highlight a shared concern: how to turn commitments into concrete climate action.

This challenge is reflected globally. At the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), countries operationalized the "loss and damage" fund, with initial pledges exceeding $700 million.

However, the gap between available funding and actual needs remains significant, underscoring the difficulty of advancing effective climate governance.

China has been strengthening climate governance through market-based mechanisms. Its national carbon emissions trading market, launched in 2021, is now the world's largest, covering more than 60% of national emissions.

By 2025, the market included 3,378 key emitters, with annual trading volume reaching 235 million tonnes and turnover totaling 14.63 billion yuan (about $2.12 billion).

The expansion to sectors such as steel, cement and aluminum represents a critical step in embedding carbon pricing into broader climate governance and accelerating industrial decarbonization.

Regional cooperation is increasingly contributing to climate governance in Asia. Under the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation framework, China and other Lancang-Mekong countries have expanded clean energy collaboration and cross-border electricity connectivity as part of regional climate action.

Hydropower projects along the Mekong River basin, together with growing solar and wind capacity in Southeast Asia, are supporting low-carbon transitions. Meanwhile, grid interconnection projects are enabling cross-border electricity trading, improving renewable energy integration and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

Such cooperation has supported green development in countries including Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, where clean energy is playing a growing role in national climate strategies.

Together, these developments echo the discussions at Boao, highlighting Asia's evolving role in global climate governance.

While multilateral mechanisms continue to face uncertainty, the integration of carbon markets, regional energy cooperation and incremental climate financing is offering practical pathways to translate climate ambition into sustained climate action.

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