In collaboration with ASEAN Foundation, ASEAN-German Energy Programme, a jointly implemented programme by ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) and Deutsche Gesellschaft fur International Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), organised a virtual talkshow adopting “Youth and Women in Energy Transition” as the topic on 25 August 2021 which featured four key speakers from energy sectors especially from youth and women community. The main objectives of this talkshow are to increase the engagement of youth and women in energy transitions by discussing their role, opportunity, and challenges in energy sector. “Through this seminar, hopefully it can inspire youth and women to be the agent of change towards sustainable energy” mentioned by Dr. Yang Mee Eng, Excecutive Director of ASEAN Foundation during her opening remarks with Rizky Fauzianto, Team Leader of GIZ and Septia Buntara, Manager of ACE.

In the first session, which was led by Ms Alnie Demoral from ACE, Ms Claris Canta from Student Energy mentioned that youth play a significant role in the future development, which one of them is to reduce climate change impact through pursuing sustainable energy. However, it is very unfortunate that according to Student Energy data, almost 74% of the global youth are not informed about how to contribute to solving the climate change. In her presentation, Ms Claris introduced one of student energy programs called Solution Movement that empowers young people to lead the energy transition initiatives. The Solution Movement helps the youth who are interested to support sustainable energy but lacking resources and skills, while Mr Zagy of Society of Renewable Energy (SRE) explained that his organisation visions to accelerate energy transition through inclusive youth empowerment and multi-institutional collaboration in Indonesia. Currently, SRE has managed to build network with up to 34 universities in Indonesia. Mr Zagy mentioned that he saw the potential of youth to fulfill the increasing job demand in RE sector. Therefore, it is very important to engage youth in the development towards sustainable energy. “There are 4 steps to improve youth engagement, (1) raise awareness, (2) enhance theoretical understanding, (3) implement their knowledge in practical experience, and (4) synthesize the knowledge they have received”  mentioned by Mr Zagy Berian, from Society of Renewable Energy.

In the second session, Ms Hana Manuela, the advisor from GIZ led discussion about the role of women in energy transition with Ms. Munlika Sompranon, Director of Energy Cooperation Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency (DEDE) in Thailand and Ms. Tri Mumpuni, Executive Director and Founder of Ikatan Bisnis dan Ekonomi Kerakyatan (IBEKA) as the speakers. Ms. Munlika explained the challenges and opportunities of women in energy sector, through case study in Thailand. She identified two main barriers for women in energy sector which includes, (1) to entry the job in energy sector and (2) to retain and advance their career path in energy sectors. However, as the job opportunities are going to increase in energy sector, she saw this as an opportunity for women to also meet the job demand in the future. “Our community-based approach project in developing solar PV to provide clean water supply for the community, especially to help the women. In the rural areas, it is women’s job to be the backbone of family and fulfill their daily necessities, among them is fetching water. Therefore, through this project, IBEKA facilitates women to easily access water supply and ease their work in meeting their daily needs” said Ms Tri Mumpuni.

The virtual talkshow was able to attract many young people from diverse backgrounds, nine ASEAN Member States (AMS) and other countries, with a total of more than 250 participants. It also successfully shows the high-interest of women in energy transitions. Indicated by 60% of the participants are women, the virtual talkshow exceeded the AGEP gender equality indicator of 40% women participation in each of its events. (SGD)