A turning point in ASEAN’s energy future

In late 2025, as ASEAN energy officials gathered to finalize the next regional energy blueprint, the room carried a different weight. For decades, ASEAN’s collective energy plans focused on security, supply, and infrastructure. This time, however, the document on the table spoke in a different register. The ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC) 2026–2030 opened with a commitment to advancing energy security and decarbonization through a just and inclusive energy transition (JIET).

The words were deliberate. Their inclusion marked a shift in how ASEAN understands its energy future, and how it intends to govern it. For the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE), the intergovernmental body tasked with shepherding regional energy cooperation, the language reflected years of effort to broaden the scope of energy policy, so that it accounts not only for megawatts and markets, but for people and livelihoods.

This moment also reflected the steady influence of partnerships, such as with the Influencing Just Energy Transition (I-JET) in ASEAN Project, which worked alongside ACE to bring justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion into conversations that had long been dominated by technical considerations. What emerged in the APAEC 2026–2030 was not a rhetorical flourish but a recalibration of priorities at the highest policy level.

Why APAEC matters for ASEAN

The APAEC is not a symbolic document. It is ASEAN’s central framework for energy cooperation, shaping national policies, investment decisions, and regional collaboration across its 11 member states. Each five-year cycle sets the direction for how the region responds to growing energy demand, climate pressures, and development needs.

The stakes are, therefore, high. ASEAN’s population exceeds 670 million, and energy demand continues to rise as economies grow and urbanize. The APAEC 2026–2030 sets ambitious regional targets, including increasing the share of renewable energy to 30% of total primary energy supply and 45% of installed capacity by 2030, while reducing energy intensity by 40% compared to 2005 levels. These targets signal ASEAN’s intent to accelerate decarbonization while maintaining energy security.

Yet regional experience has shown that targets alone do not determine outcomes. Without careful attention to how policies are designed and implemented, energy transitions can deepen existing inequalities. Millions of households across Southeast Asia still lack reliable electricity access or clean cooking solutions, and many communities face risks associated with land use, extractive industries, and displacement linked to energy projects. 

This context explains why the language of just and inclusive energy transition matters. It places distributional impacts, participation, and inclusion at the center of regional planning rather than treating them as secondary concerns. It recognizes that how the transition happens is as important as what it achieves.

A shift in the regional energy conversation

For ACE and its partners, the inclusion of just and inclusive energy transition language in the APAEC reflects a broader evolution in ASEAN’s energy discourse. As Miguel Musngi, who leads the Poverty Eradication and Gender Division at the ASEAN Secretariat, observed: “ASEAN’s energy transition discussion has expanded beyond supply, infrastructure, and technology to focus on people, including who benefits, who participates, and who risks being left behind.”

This shift did not occur overnight. It emerged through sustained dialogue across ministries, regional forums, and stakeholder platforms, where questions of equity and access were increasingly difficult to ignore. ACE played a central role in convening these conversations and ensuring they were reflected in formal policy processes.

Musngi pointed to the APAEC as evidence of this progress, noting that “the progress reflected in the APAEC 2026–2030, especially under Program Area 6 on Regional Energy Policy Planning, explicitly promotes integrating gender equality, disability, and social inclusion (GEDSI) into energy policy and planning to support a just and inclusive transition while improving energy access.”

This integration is significant because Program Area 6 influences how ASEAN Member States approach energy policy coordination, planning and institutional cooperation. By embedding GEDSI considerations at this level, the APAEC moves inclusion from the margins of policy discussion into the institutional core.

ACE’s role as a regional bridge

ACE’s position in the ASEAN energy architecture gives it a unique role. It works closely with ASEAN Member States, specialized energy bodies, development partners, academia, private sector actors, and civil society organizations. This allows ACE to serve as a bridge between regional commitments and practical policy discussions.

As Musngi explained: “ACE has been instrumental in advancing a people-centered approach by positioning the peoples of ASEAN not only as energy users but as active stakeholders who influence and benefit from energy systems.” This framing is important because it challenges conventional assumptions about who energy policy is for, and who has a voice in shaping it.

ACE’s convening power has allowed it to connect technical planning with lived experience.

For donors and policymakers, this role matters. Regional commitments carry weight only when there is an institution capable of translating them into practice across diverse national contexts. ACE’s stewardship of the APAEC provides that connective tissue.
 

Listening to rights holders

For communities affected by energy decisions, the shift toward a just energy transition is not abstract. It shapes whether development brings opportunity or harm. Robeliza Halip, who works with Indigenous Peoples across the region, has seen how energy projects can affect land, livelihoods, and cultural continuity.

“It is positive that ACE is going beyond infrastructure to integrate the GEDSI framework, which is essential for a rights-based approach,” Halip reflected. Her assessment carries weight because Indigenous Peoples are often excluded from national energy planning processes.

Halip, who leads the Right Energy Partnership with Indigenous Peoples, an Indigenous-led, multi-stakeholder initiative advancing rights-based renewable energy solutions implemented by Indigenous Peoples, stressed that a just energy transition should be judged by its outcomes, not its intentions. “The energy transition can only be just and equitable if no one is left behind,” she said, warning that rural and off-grid communities risk being excluded when policies are developed without their meaningful participation and for Indigenous Peoples the implementation of the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC).

She also pointed to a persistent gap in how inclusion is operationalized: “We need data not just on sex (men and women) and age, but on intersectionalities like disability, ethnicity for Indigenous Peoples, and migratory or refugee status. Without this, there is a big risk of exclusion.” APAEC’s new language creates space for these concerns to be addressed systematically, rather than episodically.

Perhaps most telling was Halip’s observation about access:

In this sense, ACE’s role is not only technical, but relational. It provides a channel through which voices that are often excluded can inform regional policy.

From language to institutional change

Translating regional commitments into national systems has always defined ASEAN’s policy challenge. The inclusion of just and inclusive energy transition language in the APAEC signals intent, but its significance will depend on how deeply it shapes institutional practice.

Atty. Kristine Ross Welsh M. Lacbayo of the Philippines’ Department of Energy framed this clearly: “The central challenge lies not in policy articulation, but in policy internalization.” Across the region, inclusion has often been visible in policy language but less present in budgeting, regulation, and planning processes.

The APAEC 2026–2030 begins to address this gap by anchoring GEDSI within Regional Energy Policy and Planning, placing inclusion within the operational core of energy governance. This shift carries implications for how policies are designed and evaluated, expanding the focus from technical performance to distributional outcomes and participation.

Lacbayo described this change as “a strategic elevation from commitment to structural integration.” Its success will depend on alignment across institutions, clarity of mandates, and sustained leadership. Where systems remain fragmented or under-resourced, implementation risks becoming uneven. Where alignment takes hold, the APAEC offers a pathway for inclusion to become embedded in how decisions are made, not only in how they are described.

Why just transition language shapes the future

The explicit inclusion of just and inclusive energy transition language in the APAEC likewise reflects the direction ASEAN’s energy future is already taking. Demand is rising rapidly across the region, while access gaps, economic inequality, and exposure to transition risks remain uneven. In this context, the way the transition unfolds will shape not only emissions pathways but also social outcomes.

Energy transformation affects livelihoods as much as infrastructure. Workers in fossil fuel sectors, communities in resource-dependent economies, and households without reliable access all face different forms of risk. The APAEC’s framing recognizes that these impacts need to be managed deliberately, rather than left to market outcomes or national variation alone.

Halip pointed to the institutional challenge underlying this shift: “Energy ministries are still very focused on technology and financing; it will take time for them to adapt to a rights-based approach.” Embedding just transition language at the regional level helps sustain attention on these issues, ensuring that questions of equity and participation remain visible across policy cycles.

She also underscored the importance of political commitment: “Without political will at the top, nothing changes.” The endorsement of the APAEC establishes such commitment collectively across ASEAN. It provides a shared direction that can guide national approaches, even as pathways differ across countries. In this way, the language shapes expectations for how the transition should be carried out, not only what it should achieve.

The role of partnership in policy influence

The inclusion of just and inclusive energy transition in the APAEC 2026–2030 further reflects a process of engagement that unfolded over several years, through structured collaboration between ACE, I‑JET, and a wide range of national and regional stakeholders. This influence was not exercised through a single intervention, but through a series of interconnected efforts that gradually shaped both the evidence base and the policy narrative.

At the center of this process was a shared recognition that ASEAN’s energy transition needed to be grounded in social realities. The collaboration between ACE and Oxfam, under the I‑JET Project, was designed to respond to this gap by promoting a people-centered and rights-based approach to energy policy in the region.

One of the earliest steps in this partnership involved building a common understanding of what JIET means in the ASEAN context. This culminated in the development of A Guide to a Just and Inclusive Energy Transition in ASEAN, a report that brought together regional data, stakeholder perspectives, and practical policy recommendations. The report underwent an extensive review process involving ASEAN Member States, ACE’s internal teams, and partners, reflecting a deliberate effort to create ownership and credibility across the region.

At the same time, the partnership expanded participation in regional platforms. The Strategic Multistakeholder Forum marked the first formal inclusion of civil society in the ASEAN Energy Business Forum, opening space for perspectives beyond government and industry. Subsequent consultations allowed these perspectives to feed into policy recommendations linked to the APAEC.

These efforts connected dialogue with formal processes. Engagement with the Regional Energy Policy and Planning Sub-Sector Network ensured that discussions on inclusion were aligned with the drafting of the APAEC itself. The endorsement of just and inclusive energy transition as a core theme reflects how these ideas became embedded within ASEAN’s policy discourse.

Through this approach, the partnership translated advocacy into institutional influence, helping position inclusion as part of ASEAN’s collective energy agenda.

Looking ahead

The adoption of the APAEC 2026–2030 marks an important milestone, but it is not an endpoint. Implementation will determine whether the language of just and inclusive energy transition translates into tangible change across ASEAN’s diverse contexts.

For donors and policymakers, the significance of this moment lies in what it makes possible. A regional framework that recognizes justice and inclusion creates space for national reforms, targeted investments, and accountability mechanisms that reach beyond infrastructure.

The APAEC’s new language reflects a growing understanding that energy transitions succeed when they are socially grounded. With ACE at the helm, and partnerships like I-JET contributing to its evolution, ASEAN has laid the groundwork for an energy future that is not only cleaner but also fairer.

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IJET receives support from the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).