On Saturday, 20 February 2021, ACCEPT’s research analyst, Mr. Muhammad Rizki Kresnawan, was invited as a guest speaker in virtual Webinar Series held by Agrata Institute Indonesia titled The Implementation of Indonesia National Policies Towards UNFCCC in Order to Combating Climate Change. Agrata is a youth association who are working in society to achieve SDGs 2030.

Mr Rizki has shared the important energy-climate knowledge for youth to achieve the climate goals, through his experiences on the working in the development of bridging the energy-climate nexus in ASEAN region.

During the webinar, Mr. Rizki addressed four key topics that young people should be aware of, including why the change from fossil fuel energy to green energy is so critical today. At first, he began to clarify how global warming occurs and what the primary cause is. Then he proceeds to put the ASEAN energy landscape background in order to give the participants a viewpoint on the current situation of the ASEAN energy landscape, which is still dependent on fossil fuel, and the effect of the generated pollution on the atmosphere.

Upon laying out his view, he went into more detail on how the youngsters should focus their attention on climate action. According to many surveys, youth figures seem to play a significant role in the region’s future. Youth, as the nation’s backbone, would almost certainly be a game changer. This is bolstered by the fact that the youngest generation will be directly impacted by worsening future climate change.

Mr Rizki concluded at the end of his presentation that the youth should begin to develop a so-called energy-climate design thinking in order to break down the silos in both sectors. It is common practice for both sectors to operate separately, despite the fact that the work is overlap at times. At the end of the lecture, he gave the audience four main takeaways, which are detailed below:

• Youth must maintain their curiosity about the energy-climate nexus, since the potential energy pathway is in “their hands.”
• A synergistic mix of “hard science” and “soft science” will propel the transition to a low-carbon society.
• Energy transition necessitates “energy-climate minded engineers” that can have climate change mitigation alternatives in addition to the energy technology solutions provided by “ground engineers.”
• To meet the demands of “energy-climate-minded engineers,” universities must be able to have a “supportive environment” for their students.