The execution matters as much as the commitment now that ASEAN declares support for empowering youth in climate action

SAYEF 2025 marked a milestone as youth across ASEAN gathered to launch the first Southeast Asia youth declaration on energy and climate

Y4E-SEA welcomes the youth-focused ASEAN declaration in Cebu and points to the indicators that can turn good intentions into real outcomes for young people across the region.

Youth for Energy - Southeast Asia (Y4E-SEA) welcomes the ASEAN Declaration on the Empowerment of Youth in Climate Action and Disaster Resilience, adopted at the 48th ASEAN Summit in Cebu. It is encouraging to see ASEAN leaders signal they are ready to act with young people on the climate future.

We see the declaration's nine points, from supporting youth-led innovation platforms, intergenerational mentorship, and a Youth Advisory Board under SOMY not as mere symbolic gestures. If implemented well, they will open doors that have long been closed to young people in climate and energy decision-making. We look forward to supporting this effort constructively.

This declaration could mark an important turning point. Southeast Asia is blessed with a demographic gift, being a young region in an ageing world, with 31% of the population aged 15 to 34. But our research with the ASEAN Youth Organisation shows a troubling gap when it comes to what youth perceives is being done for climate change. 8 out of 10 young people believe their country should adopt a decarbonisation target, yet they also see government political will and enabling policies as the biggest stumbling blocks. Even more telling, 84% say skills training for clean energy jobs is not available. Young people are left on the sidelines not for lack of interest, but for lack of opportunity. Closing this gap is not just about equity, but also about securing the workforce Southeast Asia needs for its energy future.

So what comes next? Practical measurement. The declaration references the ASCC Results Framework and annual reviews, which is a good start. But to make these commitments real, we need indicators that track how meaningfully youth are included. Through our contribution to the International Energy Agency's Southeast Asia Indicators Handbook for Just and Inclusive Energy Transitions, we helped develop actionable metrics such as youth participation rates in energy policy consultations, the availability of green skills training programmes, the share of climate finance reaching youth-led enterprises, and stakeholder engagement quality disaggregated by age and gender.

The above are all readily adaptable metrics that ASEAN member states can implement at the lowest levels of government, all the way to higher regional echelons. Because the measurement does not need to be perfect from day one. As long as we start with one or two indicators, a ministry or a pilot village, we start measuring, we start learning, and we start delivering.