THE Philippines leads Asia and the Pacific in renewable energy with 13% of its electricity sourced from renewables excluding hydroelectric, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) reported.

However, this share has gradually declined from 1990 to 2013 as the country, along with Cambodia and Singapore, saw an increase in its reliance on fossil fuels.

This increase in fossil fuel dependence runs counter to the trend of increasing investment in renewable energy, it said.

“In all countries, the number of FDI projects has increased between the first two periods, and it has kept rising during the last period except for China, Lao PDR, Singapore and Vietnam. Cambodia, the Philippines and Singapore are the only three countries which have experienced an increase in the fossil fuel and other coal, gas and oil electric power subsectors,” according to the report, “Renewable Energy Sector in Emerging Asia: Development and Policies.”

According to UN ESCAP’s Trade, Investment and Innovation Division (TIID), greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are likely to increase as an economy develops.

TIID also reported that the energy sector, followed by agriculture, has the largest contribution to GHG emissions in the Philippines and other countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

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