The ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) through the ASEAN Climate Change and Energy Project (ACCEPT) was invited to host one career fair session in the first SEforALL Youth Summit, which was held virtually on 9-11 February 2021. Arumdari Nurgianti, the Data Visualisation Officer, and Rika Safrina, the ICT and Data Research Officer, both also the team members of ACCEPT, led one session on 10 February, to introduce the products of ACCEPT, and how their works fit into the broader Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #7 challenge. Participated by young generation aged 15-23 years old from around the world, the session highlighted the youth roles in sustainable energy and climate change.

The session was started with the introduction of ACE as the important intergovernmental organisation that represents the 10 ASEAN Member States (AMS)’ interests in the energy sector. It then continued with the sharing of ACCEPT works and products, how the project combines “SDG #7: Clean and Affordable Energy” and “SDG #13: Climate Action”, as well as the focus areas. The speakers highlighted the energy-climate insight published quarterly among other publications, various articles on the energy-climate related to the important international days, and social media campaigns.

The project actively engages with academia with its two current opportunities, which include ASEAN Research Networks on Energy and Climate Change (ARNECC) and Call for Interest Round 2 for the ASEAN Thematic Papers on Energy-Climate. The session then shared youth perspective on what roles of youth in combating climate change through the video internship story. This video showcased the crucial role of youth in adapting to the environmentally-friendly lifestyle and technology.

Not only youth, but the speakers also elaborated on the women’s role in the energy and climate sector. Since women are most vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change, having more powerful women in the energy sector could help to steer innovation towards sustainability. Women are considered more concerned with the environment and have stronger pro-climate beliefs and opinions.

The session was delivered interactively. The audience did not only watch and listen to the speakers but also were invited to answer several quiz questions. It was interesting to see several well-known names sent by the participants when being asked regarding women and girls leading in fighting against climate change.

The session then was ended with addressing questions coming from participants, especially in the current opportunities and vacancies available in ACE. They also explained how day-to-day life working in an intergovernmental organisation, where the activities were often involved engagement with policymakers, such as attending official meetings to present research analysis, holding focus group discussions or webinars, and jointly publishing reports. Through ACCEPT, the discussions on regional energy policies were also being injected with climate policies. Youth and women can use their voices to make an impact, take leadership, and call for action to ensure affordable and clean energy for all.