COMMUNIQUE: 4th Southeast Asia Collaborative Convening of Civil Society Organizations on Just Energy Transition

COMMUNIQUE: 4th Southeast Asia Collaborative Convening of Civil Society Organizations on Just Energy Transition Advancing a Gender-Just, Inclusive, and Rights-based Energy Transition across Southeast Asia
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  • Create Date February 14, 2026
  • Last Updated February 14, 2026

Civil society groups from Southeast Asia called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states and their energy ministers to “open their hearts to justice by putting people and gender equality at the center of energy governance and planning for a just and inclusive energy transition (JET) in the ASEAN region”.

The civil society leaders lauded the ASEAN’s commitment to JET and integrating a gender equality, disability, and social inclusion (GEDSI) lens in its ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC) 2026–2030. However, they emphasized the urgent need for swift, concerted action among communities, civil society, governments, financial institutions, and private sector actors to ensure that JET in the region leaves no one behind.

They asked the energy ministers and leaders of the ASEAN member states to:

  1. Operationalize GEDSI commitments under APAEC 2026–2030 with clear accountability mechanisms.
  2. Strengthen and harmonize monitoring frameworks to operationalize the GEDSI integration across regional and national energy plans.
  3. Adopt a timebound and enforceable planned and managed regional coal phase-out pathway and embed just transition commitments in mining and in coal and energy financing.
  4. Advance a feminist, care-centered, and accessibility-focused JET.
  5. Strengthen regional collaboration and civil society organization (CSO) engagement.
  6. Institutionalize meaningful youth participation in energy governance.
  7. Integrate genuine social accountability mechanisms into ASEAN energy and financing frameworks.
  8. Protect Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ rights in all forms of critical minerals investments and ensure the safety of environmental defenders and journalists in critical minerals monitoring and reporting.

Organized by the Asia Network for People’s Energy (ANPE), Fair Finance Asia (FFA), and the Influencing Just Transition in ASEAN (I-JET) Program, the regional convening serves as a platform for Southeast Asian CSOs to share their knowledge, experiences, resources and influence amid the challenges of a shrinking civic space and emerging issues on JET.