An empirical investigation of the nexus among renewable energy, financial openness, economic growth, and environmental degradation in selected ASEAN economies.

This study investigates the relationship between economic growth, renewable energy consumption, financial openness, and environmental degradation in selected ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries (Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) from 1996 to 2018. We aim to analyze how macroeconomic situation, energy-related factors, and financial determinants contribute to environmental deprivation in selected countries whose growth has recently been substantial. To address this issue, we employ second-generation panel data regression models and quantiles with fixed-effects estimators. Initially, the cointegration analysis supports a long-run association between the variables of our interest. Empirical findings confirm the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis, but it seems valid only for Singapore. Moreover, results highlight the ecological role of renewable energy for ASEAN countries to achieve Sustainable Development Goals, such as transitioning to a low-carbon economy and reducing air pollution. On the contrary, financial openness is a cause that positively influences CO2 emissions. This research offers practical policy recommendations for many countries, including the ASEAN economies, to attain sustainable development.

Practical applications of teledentistry during the Covid-19 pandemic in ASEAN member states - a systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this review is to determine the utilisation and adoption of teledentistry based solutions and technologies during the Covid-19 Pandemic in the Asean region. BACKGROUND: Teledentistry is a branch of telemedicine that has rapidly advanced in the last few years and has the potential to provide solutions to oral health problems of patients and locations that do not have prompt and immediate access to a dentist or dental services. The Covid-19 has increased the adaption of all digital health technologies and teledentistry is no exception. METHODOLOGY: The study utilized online databases such as Pubmed (Medline), Scopus (Embase) and CINAHL for the purpose of document search. Newcastle Ottawa (NOS) scale was used to determine the quality of the studies included in our systematic review. PRISMA guidelines were used as the criteria for reporting items in the systematic review. RESULTS: A total of 1297 documents were found after applying the search criteria and the keywords for the selected study. After applying the Prisma guidelines, removal of duplicates and irrelevant entries, 10 studies that were conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic were selected, fitting the inclusion criteria. All the studies included were evaluated for quality and risk of bias through the Newcastle Ottawa scale. Only high-quality studies were included for the final review. CONCLUSION: Teledentistry is a cost-effective solution to screen, diagnose and treat dental patients from a distance. Teledentistry also has the potential to continue seamless continuation of dental education to dental students, during disruptive and non-disruptive periods. ASEAN countries should fully utilise the potential of teledentistry, however sound and effective legislation would be the key first step to achieving that potential.

Measuring health equity in the ASEAN region: conceptual framework and assessment of data availability.

BACKGROUND: Existing research on health equity falls short of identifying a comprehensive set of indicators for measurement across health systems. Health systems in the ASEAN region, in particular, lack a standardised framework to assess health equity. This paper proposes a comprehensive framework to measure health equity in the ASEAN region and highlights current gaps in data availability according to its indicator components. METHODS: A comprehensive literature review was undertaken to map out a core set of indicators to evaluate health equity at the health system level. Secondary data collection was subsequently conducted to assess current data availability for ASEAN states in key global health databases, national health accounts, and policy documents. RESULTS: A robust framework to measure health equity was developed comprising 195 indicators across Health System Inputs and Processes, Outputs, Outcomes, and Contextual Factors. Total indicator data availability equated to 72.9% (1423/1950). Across the ASEAN region, the Inputs and Processes sub-component of Health Financing had complete data availability for all indicators (160/160, 100%), while Access to Essential Medicine had the least data available (6/30, 20%). Under Outputs and Outcomes, Coverage of Selected Interventions (161/270, 59.63%) and Population Health (350/350, 100%) respectively had the most data available, while other indicator sub-components had little to none (≤ 38%). 72.145% (384/530) of data is available for all Contextual Factors. Out of the 10 ASEAN countries, the Philippines had the highest data availability overall at 77.44% (151/195), while Brunei Darussalam and Vietnam had the lowest data availability at 67.18% (131/195). CONCLUSIONS: The data availability gaps highlighted in this study underscore the need for a standardised framework to guide data collection and benchmarking of health equity in ASEAN. There is a need to prioritise regular data collection for overlooked indicator areas and in countries with low levels of data availability. The application of this indicator framework and resulting data availability analysis could be conducted beyond ASEAN to enable cross-regional benchmarking of health equity.

Growth in chikungunya virus-related research in ASEAN and South Asian countries from 1967 to 2022 following disease emergence: a bibliometric and graphical analysis.

BACKGROUND: ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) is composed of ten Southeast Asian countries bound by socio-cultural ties that promote regional peace and stability. South Asia, located in the southern subregion of Asia, includes nine countries sharing similarities in geographical and ethno-cultural factors. Chikungunya is one of the most significant problems in Southeast and South Asian countries. Much of the current chikungunya epidemic in Southeast Asia is caused by the emergence of a virus strain that originated in Africa and spread to Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, in South Asia, three confirmed lineages are in circulation. Given the positive correlation between research activity and the improvement of the clinical framework of biomedical research, this article aimed to examine the growth of chikungunya virus-related research in ASEAN and South Asian countries. METHODS: The Scopus database was used for this bibliometric analysis. The retrieved publications were subjected to a number of analyses, including those for the most prolific countries, journals, authors, institutions, and articles. Co-occurrence mapping of terms and keywords was used to determine the current state, emerging topics, and future prospects of chikungunya virus-related research. Bibliometrix and VOSviewer were used to analyze the data and visualize the collaboration network mapping. RESULTS: The Scopus search engine identified 1280 chikungunya-related documents published by ASEAN and South Asian countries between 1967 and 2022. According to our findings, India was the most productive country in South Asia, and Thailand was the most productive country in Southeast Asia. In the early stages of the study, researchers investigated the vectors and outbreaks of the chikungunya virus. In recent years, the development of antivirus agents has emerged as a prominent topic. CONCLUSIONS: Our study is the first to present the growth of chikungunya virus-related research in ASEAN and South Asian countries from 1967 to 2022. In this study, the evaluation of the comprehensive profile of research on chikungunya can serve as a guide for future studies. In addition, a bibliometric analysis may serve as a resource for healthcare policymakers.

Assessing data availability of NCD prevention and control in six ASEAN countries based on WHO global monitoring framework and the progress monitor indicators.

BACKGROUND: To tackle noncommunicable disease (NCD) burden globally, two sets of NCD surveillance indicators were established by the World Health Organization: 25 Global Monitoring Framework (GMF) indicators and 10 Progress Monitoring Indicators (PMI). This study aims to assess the data availability of these two sets of indicators in six ASEAN countries: Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. METHODS: As data on policy indicators were straightforward and fully available, we focused on studying 25 non-policy indicators: 23 GMFs and 2 PMIs. Gathering data availability of the target indicators was conducted among NCD surveillance experts from the six selected countries during May-June 2020. Our research team found information regarding whether the country had no data at all, was using WHO estimates, was providing 'expert judgement' for the data, or had actual data available for each target indicator. We triangulated their answers with several WHO data sources, including the WHO Health Observatory Database and various WHO Global Reports on health behaviours (tobacco, alcohol, diet, and physical activity) and NCDs. We calculated the percentages of the indicators that need improvement by both indicator category and country. RESULTS: For all six studied countries, the health-service indicators, based on responses to the facility survey, are the most lacking in data availability (100% of this category's indicators), followed by the health-service indicators, based on the population survey responses (57%), the mortality and morbidity indicators (50%), the behavioural risk indicators (30%), and the biological risk indicators (7%). The countries that need to improve their NCD surveillance data availability the most are Cambodia (56% of all indicators) and Lao PDR (56%), followed by Malaysia (36%), Vietnam (36%), Myanmar (32%), and Thailand (28%). CONCLUSION: Some of the non-policy GMF and PMI indicators lacked data among the six studied countries. To achieve the global NCDs targets, in the long run, the six countries should collect their own data for all indicators and begin to invest in and implement the facility survey and the population survey to track NCDs-related health services improvements once they have implemented the behavioural and biological Health Risks Population Survey in their countries.

Military humanitarian and disaster governance networks in Southeast Asia: framework and analysis.

Behind humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) efforts are governance networks of actors working together to facilitate, coordinate, and deliver joint aid and response initiatives. Militaries are key stakeholders in these networks because of their unique capabilities, particularly in Southeast Asia. This paper explores the role of military governance networks in shaping HADR affairs. It presents a framework for examining military-to-military relational structures in humanitarian and disaster contexts using network theory and social network analysis. It also assesses the nature of military ties and their influence on two capability areas essential to humanitarian activities in the region: (i) the distribution of military assets and equipment used in HADR; and (ii) the coordination of HADR exercises and training. This paper seeks to provide insights into how governance network features and properties affect the capacity of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) militaries to use available resources efficiently and to achieve shared objectives in regional disaster response.

Nursing workforce characteristics and effect on life expectancy and under-five mortality in the ASEAN.

AIM: To assess the effects of the nursing workforce and advanced nursing practice on the outcomes of patients and life expectancy, including mortality rates of under-five children in Cambodia, and to develop policy recommendations to increase the influence of the nursing workforce. BACKGROUND: In low-middle-income nations, life expectancy and under-five mortality are important measures of public health. However, there is still a dearth of literature related to the nursing workforce in Southeast Asia. METHOD: The authors retrieved the data from the World Nursing Report produced by the World Health Organization 2020 for 10 member states. The transparent reporting of a multivariable prediction model for individual prognosis or diagnosis checklist has guided this study. The univariate linear regression model was applied to categorize the potential predictors for each outcome assessment. In addition, the Spearman rank correlation test was selected to assess the potential predictors, and a multivariate statistical analysis was carried out for each of the five outcomes. RESULTS: According to the study's findings, nurse density and advanced practice nursing improve both female and male life expectancy. The existence of advanced nursing roles is associated with decreased under-five mortality. CONCLUSIONS: There are great opportunities to improve the nursing workforce within Cambodia and other Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states to increase patient outcomes. Investment in nursing is essential for improved patient outcomes. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY: Health policy investments in these projects and future initiatives intended to advance nurse density, education, and practice are based on this study's results. Policy initiatives should focus on increasing density because nursing appears to impact life expectancy and other outcomes.

COVID-19 vaccination certificate (CVC) for ASEAN: the way forward?

The emergence of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has stimulated governments to an extensive discussion on the necessity of COVID-19 vaccination certificate (CVC) to help monitor and manage the rollout of vaccinations and revive the economy. A recent correspondence highlighted the ethical issues concerning COVID-19 diagnostic test results and vaccination certificates. This paper highlights the potential benefits and harms of implementing CVC in the ASEAN region.

Clinical outcomes and performance indicators of patients with kidney failure and acute kidney injuries in ASEAN countries.

INTRODUCTION: This review article reports clinical outcomes and performance indicators of patients with kidney failure (KF) and acute kidney injuries (AKI) in Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. METHODOLOGY: Association of South East Asian Nations data, segregated by income status, from national registries and literature were collated, compared and benchmarked against international references. RESULTS: The national incidence and prevalence of treated KF ranged from 172 to 479 per million population (pmp) and 36-2255 pmp, respectively. Brunei (79%), Malaysia (66%) and Singapore (66%) had world-leading proportions of diabetes-related KF. Hemodialysis (HD), Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) and transplant accounted for 68-100%, 0-27% and 0-18% of all KF replacement therapy, respectively. Transplant patient survival was superior with 90%-93% at 5 years and 71%-90% at 10 years, compared to PD (44%-54%) and HD (53-64%) at 5 years. Higher-income countries were able to achieve good anemia control, HD and PD adequacy targets, while usage of arteriovenous fistula in HD varied from 70% to 85%. Acute Kidney Injury rates ranged from 24.2% to 49.2% of high-dependency admissions. Lower incidences of PD peritonitis and HD catheter-related Bloodstream Infections; and PD-favouring quality-of-life were evident in higher-income countries. CONCLUSION: Association of South East Asian Nations has a challenging burden of kidney disease, with extremely high incidence, prevalence, DM-related KF and AKI rates. The magnitude of the prevailing problem calls for the creation of a regional society under the auspices of ASEAN with a shared perspective of universal, equitable and charitable access to quality renal care; consistent with the founding premises and healthcare initiatives of ASEAN.

Twenty years of traditional and complementary medicine regulation and its impact in Malaysia: achievements and policy lessons.

BACKGROUND: Many countries are trying to integrate traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) into their health care systems. However, it is not easy to integrate T&CM within a given health care system. This study aims to draw policy outcomes and lessons from the case of Malaysia, which has been making efforts for over 20 years to integrate various types of T&CM into the national health care system (NHS). METHODS: Documents were searched in major databases and websites using words such as Malaysia and T&CM, and additional documents were secured using snowballing techniques. Data were classified and organized according to the World Health Organization health systems framework. RESULTS: Malaysia has focused on managing the safety and quality of T&CM, and to that end it has been institutionalized by enacting specialized laws rather than by applying existing medical law directly. Malaysia was able to institutionalize T&CM by adopting a step-by-step approach that considered the appropriateness of administrative policies and measures. CONCLUSIONS: Malaysia's experiences in implementing its T&CM policies will raise practical implications for countries struggling to integrate their existing T&CM into the NHS and utilize it for universal health coverage.

Ramification of healthcare expenditure on morbidity rates and life expectancy in the association of southeast asian nations countries: A dynamic panel threshold analysis.

OBJECTIVE: This study has investigated the impact of healthcare expenditure on life expectancy and morbidity rates in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to analyse whether health expenditure remains a critical component of improving health status and to determine the threshold value at which health strategy becomes cost-effective from 2000 to 2019. METHODS: The techniques employed include the Dynamic Panel Threshold model advanced by Seo et al. (2019) to implement Seo and Shin's (2016) proposed first-differenced generalised method of moments (GMM) estimation. Furthermore, the dynamic system GMM and Pooled Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) techniques were also employed for robustness check. RESULTS: The findings revealed that healthcare expenditure raises life expectancy and lowers the crude death rate, infant mortality rate, and maternal mortality rate. Therefore, healthcare expenditure is increasing life expectancy and reducing crude death rate, infant mortality rate, and maternal mortality rate. However, when disaggregating the impact, that of public healthcare expenditure is higher than that of private except in the case of infant mortality rate where that of private is higher. In addition, it found that the threshold value at which health strategy becomes cost-effective, thus the amount which the countries should spend for health status improvement is at least 6% and above of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP). CONCLUSION: Healthcare expenditure is raising life expectancy and lowering the morbidity rate of the countries. Furthermore, the cost-effective level of the country's healthcare expenditure as a proportion of GDP is 6% and above.

Carbon emissions convergence and determinant analysis: Evidence from ASEAN countries.

In this study, we aim to uncover the convergence pattern of carbon emissions and its determinants towards effective reduction policies. In particular, we contribute to the emissions convergence literature by examining convergence in CO2 emissions for a sample of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states, spanning the period from 1960 to 2018. We adopt the log (t) club convergence approach and examine convergence patterns in total CO2 emissions as well as emissions disaggregated by sources. We focus on emissions emerging from coal, oil, natural gas and cement production. The findings from the full sample analysis reveal two sub-convergent clubs that reflect population size, geography, and energy demand. The disaggregated analysis by sources show that the sources of emissions significantly influence convergence behaviour across the ASEAN countries investigated. We find that the transition paths of emissions are more pronounced for oil, gas and cement production with a large number of non-converging states. To ascertain the reason behind this result, we examine the determinants of the convergence process. We detect that urbanization plays a vital role in the convergence path of carbon emissions and calls for urgent efforts to decarbonize urbanization-related infrastructure processes.

Determinants of environmental degradation: Evidenced-based insights from ASEAN economies.

This paper examines the effect of per capita income, trade openness, energy consumption, and financial development on the ASEAN region's environmental degradation. We obtained data from the World Development Indicators (WDI) during the years 2001-2020 to test our research model. For analysis, we applied panel data techniques such as pooled least squares, fixed effects, generalized least squares (GLS), and two stages least squares (2SLS). We also conducted the causality analysis to determine the direction of the relationship among the models' variables. Our models' results show the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in the ASEAN region as per capita income and its square term possess positive and negative coefficients. The results also show the presence of an N-shaped EKC in ASEAN region a deviation from the conventional literature. Moreover, the results illustrate that increasing energy consumption, trade openness, and financial development positively contribute to environmental degradation in ASEAN economies. The causality analysis shows a two-way causality between trade openness and financial development, and environmental degradation and trade openness. We observed oneway causality, running a) from energy consumption and per capita income towards financial development, b) from per capita income towards trade openness, and c) from financial development towards environmental degradation. The study's results contribute to the environmental degradation literature and provide a better understanding of environmental degradation for policymakers in ASEAN economies.

Discrimination of the geographical origins of rice based on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Over the past few decades, several techniques have been applied to identify the geographical origins of rice products. In this study, the chemical characterization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was carefully conducted by analysing PAHs in rice samples collected from private sector planting areas located in Bali and Yogyakarta, Indonesia (i.e. ID; n = 20), west sides of Malaysia (i.e. MY; n = 20), Mandalay, Legend, Myingyan, Myanmar (i.e. MM; n = 20), northern parts of Lao PDR (i.e. LA; n = 20), central parts of Cambodia (i.e. KH; n = 20), northern parts of Vietnam (i.e. VN; n = 20), and Thailand (i.e. TH; n = 22). Percentage contributions show the exceedingly high abundance of 5-6 ring PAH congeners in rice samples collected from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam. Lao PDR rice samples were overwhelmed by 4-ring PAH congeners with the percentage contribution of 46% followed by 5-6 ring PAHs (33%) and 3-ring PAHs (21%). In addition, hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis can successfully categorize some rice samples based on its geographical origins.

ASEAN countries' environmental policies for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This study's objective is to examine how ASEAN countries reported their environment-related policies for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in their Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs), and a dataset of their environmental policies was developed. This is a necessary first step in analyzing the reasons for insufficient progress on the environmental dimension of the SDGs, since policies are key means of implementation. Previous studies of SDG progress and VNRs examined many aspects such as achievement levels, indicators, data, governance, and VNR preparation procedures, but surprisingly, there has been little discussion of countries' actual policy efforts. Progress on the SDGs' environmental dimensions is widely considered insufficient, including in Asia. This study showed that insufficient progress on the environmental dimension of the SDGs is not due to a lack of environmental policies or a lower prioritization of policies for environmental SDG targets. ASEAN countries included almost 600 concrete environment-related policies in their VNRs, widely distributed among most SDGs, accounting for about 40 percent of their total reported SDG-related policies. The number of environmental policies was not closely related to GDP, GDP per capita, or VNR date. Many policies appeared substantial, including national action plans, strategies, laws, and regulations, not just small projects or programs. However, some major existing environmental policies, for example on air pollution, were usually not included in the VNRs. Further research is needed to explore other possible factors such as insufficient policy implementation or effectiveness, which this study could not examine. This study's environmental policy dataset provides the necessary baseline for future research on policy implementation and effectiveness, especially to help future studies identify ASEAN countries' environmental policies in specific areas such as climate, energy, or water. This will also facilitate comparative analysis. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10668-022-02514-0.

Selective border permeability: Governing complex environmental issues through and beyond COVID-19.

COVID-19 has changed the permeability of borders in transboundary environmental governance regimes. While borders have always been selectively permeable, the pandemic has reconfigured the nature of cross-border flows of people, natural resources, finances and technologies. This has altered the availability of spaces for enacting sustainability initiatives within and between countries. In Southeast Asia, national governments and businesses seeking to expedite economic recovery from the pandemic-induced recession have selectively re-opened borders by accelerating production and revitalizing agro-export growth. Widening regional inequities have also contributed to increased cross-border flows of illicit commodities, such as trafficked wildlife. At the same time, border restrictions under the exigencies of controlling the pandemic have led to a rolling back and scaling down of transboundary environmental agreements, regulations and programs, with important implications for environmental democracy, socio-ecological justice and sustainability. Drawing on evidence from Southeast Asia, the article assesses the policy challenges and opportunities posed by the shifting permeability of borders for organising and operationalising environmental activities at different scales of transboundary governance.

COVID-19, services trade and greenfield investment in ASEAN+6.

Given the importance of services for economic activity in general and the salience of reducing service link costs for overcoming the economic and health challenges emanating from COVID-19, we examine the effect of the pandemic on services trade in the original group of ASEAN+6 countries that began negotiating the RCEP agreement. Stylised facts show that ASEAN+6 commercial services' exports and imports declined by 19.7% and 22.1%, respectively, on a YoY basis during 2020, with considerable heterogeneity across countries and sectors. ASEAN+6 announced greenfield investment in services also fell by a third during 2020, with the intra-ASEAN+6 decline being more severe at 41.8%. Meanwhile, structural gravity estimates suggest that the stringency of containment measures imposed in the wake of the pandemic may have reduced ASEAN+6 services exports by 61.6%.

ASEAN's Diplomatic Tasks During the Pandemic.

What are the implications of COVID-19 for the diplomacy of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)? What kinds of diplomatic tasks has the pandemic imposed on ASEAN, and in what way has the Southeast Asian association handled them? ASEAN's most fundamental diplomatic task has of course been to continue building ASEAN communities, but the ability of the association of minor powers in Southeast Asia is limited. Hence, it can be said that ASEAN's most important diplomatic task has been to maintain favorable relations with external powers, in particular, with China and the United States. The present study argues that ASEAN has managed to maintain favorable relations with and receive support from both of these external powers by conducting "equidistant diplomacy" with them. In concrete terms, it has fostered favorable relations with China. Yet, without relying excessively on Beijing, it made sure to foster such relations with the United States as well, thereby striking a reasonable balance between these two external powers.

Application of DEA-Based Malmquist Productivity Index on Health Care System Efficiency of ASEAN Countries.

This study assesses and compares the productive efficiency of the national healthcare system of the ASEAN region which includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam amidst rising mortality rate from noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) era. Nonparametric data envelopment analysis technique based on the Malmquist Productivity Index is performed and its components, total factor productivity change, technical change and technological change are compared across the region. Two different models are considered in assessing and comparing the technical efficiency of the national healthcare system across the region with life expectancy at birth and mortality rate from NCDs as parallel health care output for both the models. The mean value of total factor productivity is 0.983 and 0.974 which suggests that national healthcare system productivity efficiency decays by 1.7% for Model I and 2.6% for Model II, respectively. This suggests that the health care system inefficiencies across the ASEAN region have not made life expectancy to improve as much as it should be and curtailed the mortality rate from growing chronic NCDs within a decade. The region is likely to lag behind in achieving SDGs 3 target 4 on reducing by one-third premature mortality from chronic NCDs unless the health care system's technical efficiency is improved across the region. The finding suggests a microlevel study on each country to identify major sources of healthcare system inefficiency in a bid to ameliorate it.

Carbon neutrality potential of the ASEAN-5 countries: Implications from asymmetric effects of income inequality on renewable energy consumption.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries are lagging behind the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to increase the share of renewable energy use and to reduce income inequality. Therefore, this study scrutinises the asymmetric effect of income inequality on renewable energy consumption in order to assess the possibility of the major ASEAN-5 countries adopting the carbon neutrality goal. The study employs a nonlinear panel autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model, from 1990 to 2015. By using four income inequality proxies, the empirical results show, firstly, that an alleviation of income inequality promotes the consumption of renewable energy in the long run, and vice versa. Secondly, the asymmetric effect is found and confirms that the positive shock (worsening of inequality) of income inequality generates a larger impact on the consumption of renewable energy compared to the result from negative shock (improvement of inequality). Lastly, the Hatemi-J asymmetric Granger causality tests reveal bidirectional causality between the positive inequality shock and the consumption of renewable energy. Consequently, in terms of policy implication, there is a strong argument to reduce the degree of income inequality in ASEAN-5 in order to promote the consumption of renewable energy and to increase the feasibility of adoption of carbon neutrality targets in the region.