The Southeast Asia Green Economy Landscape 2025 by Singapore-based innovation firm Padang & Co maps 1,089 startups, scale-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across six countries – Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines – operating in sectors including energy transition, industrial decarbonisation, agriculture, nature and climate markets.
Singapore is home to 494 green economy startups, representing about 45 per cent of all companies mapped in the study. It hosts more than half of the region’s startups in the built environment and climate markets and enablers sectors, reflecting its strengths in urban systems, digital infrastructure, finance and sustainability services.
Southeast Asia accounts for a relatively modest share of global greenhouse gas emissions, but climate pollution from the region is rising faster than the global average as energy demand grows alongside rapid urbanisation and industrial expansion. Southeast Asia is also among the world’s most climate-vulnerable regions, facing increasing exposure to heat stress, flooding and sea-level rise.
Against that backdrop, the Padang & Co report found that the region’s green economy is no longer constrained by a lack of technology, but by system-level bottlenecks, including weak power grids, fragmented implementation, limited climate-grade data and financing challenges.
The report said that while countries have climate roadmaps, corporate commitments and growing investor interest, weaknesses in infrastructure and coordination continue to slow deployment.
Singapore’s dominance reflects long-standing policy choices, including early adoption of carbon pricing, strong regulatory frameworks and its role as a regional hub for shipping, aviation, finance and energy trading.
The city-state introduced Southeast Asia’s first carbon tax in 2019 and has positioned itself as a centre for carbon services, sustainable finance and cross-border clean energy trade.
The report identified system flexibility, industrial decarbonisation and digital efficiency as Singapore’s most pressing challenges. Electricity demand is rising across industry, buildings and data centres, while land constraints limit domestic renewable energy deployment.
Emissions-intensive industrial clusters on Jurong Island remain a major focus, alongside maritime and aviation emissions.
Padang & Co highlighted five priority innovation areas for Singapore: distributed energy resources and virtual power plants; industrial and petrochemical decarbonisation on Jurong Island; grid-interactive, low-carbon data centres; clean energy imports and regional grid interconnection; and low-carbon fuels for shipping and aviation.
Singapore aims to reach net zero emissions by 2050, with emissions peaking at 60 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2030. It targets 2 gigawatts-peak of solar capacity by 2030 and up to 6 gigawatts of clean energy imports by 2035, supported by energy storage, demand response and digital grid management.
Across Southeast Asia, the report found that climate gains increasingly depend on system integration rather than standalone projects. Progress in sectors such as renewables, transport and industry is closely linked, with grid readiness and data infrastructure shaping how quickly solutions can scale.
Nature, agriculture and food remains the region’s largest green sector, with 262 companies, reflecting Southeast Asia’s reliance on land, water and food systems and their high mitigation potential. Energy transition and climate markets and enablers follow, driven by the need to modernise power systems and meet rising regulatory requirements for emissions measurement and reporting.
Other countries show distinct strengths. Indonesia plays a central role due to its biodiversity and land-use footprint, with growing investment in regenerative agriculture, peatland restoration and decentralised energy.
Malaysia is building momentum in renewable energy and circular economy solutions, supported by green investment corridors linked to the Johor–Singapore Special Economic Zone.
Thailand is advancing electric mobility and smart logistics, while Vietnam is emerging as a fast-growing market for industrial decarbonisation and emissions measurement, alongside efforts to reduce methane emissions from rice cultivation. The Philippines, though the smallest ecosystem, shows strong demand for distributed solar power, resilient infrastructure and climate risk analytics.
Padang & Co said startups and SMEs are acting as the integration layer of the region’s green transition, helping to bridge data gaps, digitise processes and reduce investment risk. But it warned that without faster deployment and stronger coordination, Southeast Asia risks falling short of its climate and economic ambitions.
“The region has the solutions,” the report said. “What it needs is the ability to scale, integrate and finance them.”
