Y4E-SEA participated in the Global Green Industrialization Dialogue at Vienna, Austria

On 7-8 July 2025, Youth for Energy Southeast Asia (Y4E-SEA) participated in the Global Green Industrialization Dialogue (GGID), an international forum hosted by the United Nation Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) The event gathered governments, industries, and global partners to explore practical solutions for sustainable industrial development.

GGID forms part of the Global Green Industrialization Pact (the Pact)—a voluntary and inclusive mechanism to articulate shared ambition for the industrial sector, track collective progress, and foster international cooperation in advancing the global climate and development agenda.

Representing Y4E-SEA, Giang Ngoc Huong Vu (Communication Director) and Maydiva Thessalonica Virginie (Research Officer) joined the roundtable discussions, contributing insights that will help shape the Pact’s industry action agenda ahead of COP30.

Roundtable discussion: Regional Opportunities to Drive a Green Global Economy

In her intervention, Maydiva emphasized the complexity and potential of building renewable energy manufacturing ecosystems within a regional context. She highlighted that while the opportunities for renewable energy and cleantech value chains are substantial, realizing them requires a deeper understanding of the social and political landscapes unique to each region. Following this, she raised that political instability and entrenched social constructs often hinder progress. In response, youth can play a pivotal role in bridging these challenges. Their long-term engagement and innovation-driven mindset contribute to sustained political goodwill and more inclusive policy-making.

The discussion also addressed the difficulty of harmonizing standards across regions due to differing local realities. It was also pointed out how remote and island communities, in particular, face additional barriers such as limited access to financing, largely due to perceived investment risks. These geographical and infrastructural limitations complicate efforts to integrate such areas into broader cleantech supply chains.

In terms of trade and manufacturing, the table acknowledged ongoing challenges in ensuring fair export-import pricing, which further limits equitable participation from developing and emerging economies.

Crucially, the table also stressed that government goodwill is indispensable. It should not only support industrial development and recycling efforts but also address potential social backlash arising from transition policies. Active government involvement is essential in reducing technical barriers to trade, facilitating technology transfer, and enabling regional collaboration—ultimately unlocking the full value of the energy transition.

The remarks in the roundtable called for a holistic approach that recognizes the regional nuances while pushing for inclusive and resilient green growth pathways across Southeast Asia and beyond.

Roundtable Discussion: Enhancing Data Governance for Sustainable Supply Chains

During her intervention, Giang addressed the critical question of how developing and emerging economies can leverage clean technology supply chains to increase industrial competitiveness, while tapping this into the broader need for enhanced data governance in the clean energy transition.

She began by emphasizing the importance of building domestic manufacturing capabilities to reduce dependence on imported clean energy technologies and to create local employment. In particular, she highlighted Southeast Asia’s strong foundation in solar PV manufacturing, noting that countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand have become major exporters, contributing up to one-third of global PV module exports, primarily to the US and EU markets.

Giang stressed that to maintain and grow this momentum, countries should focus on:

• Implementing Local Content Requirements (LCRs) that prioritize domestic production,

• Facilitating technology transfer from more technologically advanced nations, and

• Investing in R&D and innovation to develop competitive clean energy solutions.

  
  

She also advocated for the development of skilled workforce pipelines through technical education, vocational training, and academic-industry collaboration. Support for SMEs, startups, and innovation hubs is essential to foster a new generation of local clean-tech innovators, she noted.

Turning to data governance, Giang underscored its foundational role in enabling sustainable supply chains. She pointed out that data transparency remains a key challenge in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), particularly in Southeast Asia. The lack of high-quality, accessible data hampers the monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) of energy progress and emissions, leading to inaccurate energy models and misinformed policy decisions.

To address this, Giang recommended:

• Establishing strong legal and operational standards for data access, sharing, and protection,

• Building robust GHG reporting and national emissions inventory systems aligned with IPCC guidelines, 

• Leveraging emerging technologies such as AI for forecasting, blockchain for data integrity, and generative AI for insights and reporting in carbon accounting.

  
  

Finally, Giang emphasized the need for regional cooperation to improve data availability and transparency. Such cooperation can:

• Facilitate more accurate energy modeling and climate projections,

• Improve cross-border MRV processes, 

• Provide a stronger foundation for policy alignment and regional energy planning, ultimately strengthening the clean tech industrial supply chain across Southeast Asia

  
  

Her remarks tied together the themes of industrial growth, technological innovation, and data governance, highlighting a pathway toward a more resilient, data-informed green economy in the Global South.