Fossil gas is often described as a cleaner and safer option for our region. But when you look closely at the evidence, the picture changes completely. Fossil gas harms the climate, drains our income, damages nature, threatens public health, and puts communities in danger. The risks are everywhere along the gas supply chain, from extraction to pipelines to LNG shipping and power plants. This blog breaks down each of these impacts in depth and shows why Southeast Asia cannot afford to rely on fossil gas any longer.
1. Fossil gas damages the climate
Fossil gas is not a climate solution. When burned, it releases carbon dioxide, one of the main greenhouse gases driving climate change. Today, fossil gas contributes 21 percent of global fossil carbon dioxide emissions, and these emissions are still increasing.
But the biggest issue is methane. Fossil gas is mostly methane, which traps about 84 times more heat than carbon dioxide over its first twenty years in the atmosphere. Methane leaks during drilling, processing, shipping, and storage. These leaks are widespread worldwide and often underestimated. Once they are counted, the total climate impact of fossil gas can equal coal, and in some cases even exceed it.
Every tonne of fossil gas used in Southeast Asia adds more methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, heating up a region already vulnerable to extreme weather, flooding, and rising temperatures.
2. Fossil gas raises the cost of living
Fossil gas is one of the most unstable and expensive fuels in the world. Its price is set by global markets, not by local needs. When global demand rises or when conflict disrupts supply, prices skyrocket.
Southeast Asia felt this sharply during the 2022 energy crisis and the war in Ukraine. Gas prices surged, and households across the region paid more for electricity and basic needs. But while families struggled, major oil and gas companies collected historic profits. Over the past ten years, the top five companies earned more than eight hundred billion dollars. Since 2022, almost half a trillion dollars of profit came directly from the crisis.
The more Southeast Asia depends on fossil gas, the more price shocks and economic pain people will face. It is an energy system built on volatility, not security.
3. Fossil gas destroys nature and biodiversity
The development of fossil gas infrastructure has severe consequences for nature. Exploration, drilling, and fracking damage forests, pollute water sources, and destroy land. Pipelines cut through ecosystems. LNG terminals put pressure on coastlines and release air and water pollution.
Offshore gas exploration uses seismic blasting, a process that sends powerful sound waves into the ocean to detect gas fields. These blasts disturb and sometimes injure whales, dolphins, and many other marine species that rely on sound for communication, feeding, and migration.
The expansion of gas infrastructure also threatens fisheries and the communities that depend on them. When habitats are damaged, they lose their ability to store carbon naturally, which makes both the climate and biodiversity crisis worse.
4. Fossil gas harms health
Fossil gas is not clean for our bodies. When burned, it produces nitrogen oxides and other pollutants linked to asthma, respiratory illness, heart disease, and cancer. Indoors, gas appliances such as stoves and heaters release harmful pollutants that can reach unsafe levels, especially in poorly ventilated homes. Studies increasingly show that gas stoves can worsen indoor air quality far more than previously understood.
Beyond direct pollution, fossil gas fuels the climate crisis, which increases the risks of heat waves, floods, and disease outbreaks. All of these have serious consequences for people’s health.
5. Fossil gas threatens community safety
Fossil gas is dangerous. Accidents are common across the entire supply chain. Explosions, fires, and leaks occur during extraction, transport, and storage.
In the United States, a gas pipeline accident happens about every forty hours. Historical disasters such as the San Juanico explosion in Mexico and the Ufa pipeline explosion in the former Soviet Union show how deadly gas infrastructure can be. More recently, a large blaze erupted at a gas pipeline located in a nearby housing area of Putra Heights, Malaysia, operated by PETRONAS Gas Berhad. The blaze affected 364 individuals. At least 78 houses, 10 shophouses, and 225 vehicles were burned.
Southeast Asia, with its coastal populations, dense cities, and climate vulnerabilities, cannot afford these risks.
Southeast Asia is being targeted
Countries such as the United States, Qatar, and Australia are expanding their gas production and pushing Southeast Asia to become a long term LNG market. They are promoting gas as a clean and secure bridge fuel. But LNG is unstable, expensive, and easily disrupted by the global market.
The 2022 gas crisis showed that LNG can become unaffordable overnight. Locking Southeast Asia into fossil gas would expose millions of families to decades of price shocks and instability.
A better path forward
Southeast Asia has massive renewable energy potential. Solar and wind power are already cheaper, safer, and more stable than fossil gas. With investment in modern electricity grids, storage, and regional cooperation through ASEAN, renewable energy can power the region with reliability and affordability.
Fossil gas is not our future. A clean, safe, and secure energy system is within reach. It is time to choose it.
