By Michelle Manook

The ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur will focus on economic resilience, digital growth and inclusive development. Yet none of these ambitions can succeed without reliable, affordable and secure energy.

That is why President Trump’s attendance is significant as both sides are energy realists.

Over the past year, the U.S. administration has focused on a return to energy dominance, putting security and global competitiveness back at the centre of national policy. Its US$625-million investment to modernise the U.S. coal fleet underscores that commitment and reflects renewed confidence in reliable, proven resources.

For ASEAN, the Summit offers a rare opportunity to deepen ties with the world’s most powerful nation at a time when global energy and economic stability are under strain. It also reaffirms the region’s balanced approach to sustainability and competitiveness, built on a diverse energy mix where coal continues to play a responsible role in long-term growth and climate action.

Malaysia, as host of this year’s Summit, is showing the way forward. Its Responsible Transition Pathway keeps coal in the mix to ensure grid stability while expanding renewables, as electricity demand continues to rise, driven by AI, data centres and industrial growth.

Across the region, Indonesia’s nearly 50 gigawatts of coal capacity underpin its economy, including more than 11 GW from captive plants powering industrial parks that contribute 21 per cent of national GDP. Without this stable baseload, manufacturing losses from grid instability would exceed IDR5.6 trillion (US$340 million) each year. To sustain growth, Indonesia plans to add almost 27 GW of new capacity within seven years.

Vietnam’s Power Development Plan 8 and the Philippines’ energy diversification strategy show similar pragmatism.

In contrast, much of the global debate remains mired in misleading climate ideology. Thankfully the notion that the world must “phase out coal” is losing credibility as the financial pillars of so-called net-zero activism are collapsing. The Net Zero Banking Alliance has shut down, and the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative has suspended operations.

As I have cautioned for years, exclusion and divestment are not energy strategies. They distort markets, delay innovation and fail to cut emissions. In reality, coal remains essential to sustaining the growth of wind, solar and battery industries.

Why then does the global conversation remain so detached from reality? Because it has been built on myths.

The first myth was that coal cannot be sustainable. FutureCoal’s Sustainable Coal Stewardship (SCS) framework proves it can. It outlines technologies, including high-efficiency, low-emissions (HELE) plants, carbon capture and storage (CCS) and gasification, that can cut emissions by up to 99 per cent. Coal is also being transformed into hydrogen, fertilisers, and advanced materials like graphene and carbon fibre, creating new industries, value chains, and jobs.

The United States offers a glimpse of this future. Programmes such as Coal-to-Cars are converting coal into carbon fibre, while researchers are recovering critical minerals and producing graphene from coal and coal waste, positioning coal as a foundation for clean-tech manufacturing.

ASEAN is well placed to build on this progress. The ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) report, The Past, Present, and Future Role of Coal in the ASEAN Energy Landscape, outlines similar pathways for coal’s evolution across the region. By drawing on U.S. experience in R&D, financing and commercialisation, ASEAN can accelerate its own responsible transformation under the SCS framework.

The second myth is that coal investment is declining. The evidence tells a different story. Global coal investmet rose 6 per cent in 2024 and is projected to grow another 4 per cent in 2025 to reach US$135 billion. India has committed US$1 billion to gasification, China invested US$248 billion between 2022 and 2024, and the United States continues to upgrade its fleet.

This renewed confidence in coal’s transformation presents an opening for the Asian Development Bank and regional lenders to rethink exclusionary financing. All fuels and all technologies are needed, as was always intended under the Paris Agreement.

By supporting technologies through SCS, they can turn coal from a misperceived liability into a resource that supports decarbonisation, grid stability, and industrial competitiveness.

The third myth is that coal is being phased out. In reality, ASEAN, China, and India accounted for 77 per cent of global coal demand in 2024, double their share at the start of the century, and demand will remain robust through 2050.

FutureCoal’s collaboration with the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE), recently strengthened through a new Memorandum of Understanding, has helped reshape this narrative. We have produced landmark reports demonstrating coal’s contribution to ASEAN's Sustainable Development Goals and its potential in Clean Coal Technologies. One joint study found that investing US$26 billion to upgrade subcritical plants to ultra-supercritical could cut CO₂ emissions by 60 million tonnes annually, equivalent to removing 31.5 million cars, outperforming offshore wind at far lower cost and greater reliability.

President Trump’s visit underscores ASEAN’s growing strategic importance, not only in trade and security, but in shaping the global energy and climate agenda.

Together, the United States and ASEAN can redefine responsible energy leadership and accelerate coal’s transformation through SCS, helping build a more secure and sustainable global future.

-- BERNAMA

Michelle Manook is the Chief Executive Officer of FutureCoal, formerly the World Coal Association. She has been repeatedly recognised by Mining Journal as one of the 50 most influential figures in global mining and named among the Top 100 Women in Mining.