Data Governance in the Geopolitics of Energy Transition: Comparing Regional Energy Cooperation in ASEAN and the EU

Data governance has become a critical enabler in the geopolitics of energy transition, influencing regional cooperation, energy security, and climate leadership. This article compares the contrasting approaches of the European Union and ASEAN to data governance in the context of energy transition and examines their geopolitical implications. The EU’s centralised model is underpinned by strong institutional capacity, policy alignment, interdependence among member states, and political will. These conditions support robust data governance across regional power grids, critical raw material supply chains, and carbon markets, enhancing the EU’s energy resilience and influence in global climate standard-setting. In contrast, despite advancing regional energy initiatives, ASEAN’s decentralised and informal approach to data governance presents both opportunities and challenges for deepening regional data integration. Through comparative case studies, this article investigates how energy data governance is both shaped and reshapes the geopolitics of energy transition.