CSOs urge ASEAN Energy Ministers to adopt 9-point Agenda for APAEC 2026-2030

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, June 20, 2025 – In a united call to the energy ministers and governments of Association of Southeast Asian (ASEAN) member states (AMS), civil society organizations (CSOs) across the region advance a 9-point agenda outlined in the official communique from the 3rd Southeast Asia Collaborative Convening of CSOs on Just Energy Transition held on 3-5 June 2025.

Participating CSOs in the convening co-created the communique with specific calls to action that urge the energy ministers and government leaders of the ASEAN member states to:

1. Include an equitable and sector-driven, gender-just and inclusive energy transition (GJIET) as a pillar of ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC) 2026-2030;
2. Enable and assure transparent, substantial, and meaningful inclusion and participation of marginalized groups and CSOs in developing, monitoring, and implementing the APAEC 2026-2030;
3. Prioritize energy security and equitable access for all that addresses the gender disparity in the energy sector through a transformative GJIET;
4. Urge the AMS to reflect GJIET principles in their respective Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategies (LT-LEDS), and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs);
5. Urge financial institutions and investors to scale up and accelerate the redirection of finance from fossil fuels to renewable and GJIET, and to provide substantial finance for community-led sustainable renewable energy solutions and transition programs for impacted communities and marginalized groups;
6. Enhance safeguarding, transparency, and accountability in the process of GJIET, the mining of critical minerals and in tracking the progress of the transition;
7. Ensure that financial institutions and investors involved in the region’s energy transition comply with international safeguarding guidelines and frameworks; abide by the highest standards in transparency, accountability, including the development, and implementation of robust safeguards, grievance and remedial mechanisms; respect the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) of Indigenous and local communities; and meaningfully engage affected communities and CSOs;
8. Urge AMS in delivering time-bound commitments towards realizing net-zero emission by 2050; and
9. Ensure the alignment with ASEAN Regional Policy Frameworks and Instruments.

The communique contains key asks of CSOs to ASEAN's Ministers of Energy and the 2025 ASEAN Malaysia Chairpersonship that aim to prioritize GJIET as a pillar in the updating and development of APAEC 2026-2030.

In its third year and organized by the Asia Network for People’s Energy (ANPE) and Oxfam’s Fair Finance Asia (FFA) and Influencing a Just Transition in Asia (IJET) Programs, the regional

convening of CSOs continued to serve as a platform for Southeast Asian CSOs to share their knowledge, experiences, and discuss emerging issues on JET.

"To ensure that no one is left behind in ASEAN's energy transition, it is imperative to have a gender-just and inclusive energy transition pillar in APAEC 2026-2030. We call on the 43rd ASEAN Ministers of Energy Meeting and the 47th ASEAN Summit to take this into consideration for the benefit of the ASEAN member states and their citizens who are among the most climate vulnerable in the world," said Shubert Ciencia, Energy Justice & ASEAN Influencing Program Manager, Oxfam.

Nearly 50 CSO representatives attended the convening to elevate the voices of marginalized communities and those most affected by energy projects. Speakers from the Climate Action Network Southeast Asia (CANSEA), ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE), and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Regional Collaboration Center for the Asia and the Pacific grounded the conversations on the current landscape of the region, and globally, and further opened possible avenues to deepen collaboration.

"As ASEAN shapes its energy future with APAEC 2026–2030, Malaysia's Chairship offers a crucial opportunity to champion a truly just, people-centered, and gender-transformative energy transition. The Fair Finance Asia (FFA) network urges ASEAN Energy Ministers to prioritize robust cross-border policy coordination, alongside stronger financial transparency and accountability. Without rigorous human rights due diligence—especially in hydropower and critical minerals financing—and adherence to international sustainability standards, we risk exacerbating social and environmental harms. Stronger safeguards and accountability mechanisms shouldn’t be an afterthought; they are essential to prevent energy transition financing from causing more harm than good," said Bernadette Victorio, Program Lead at Fair Finance Asia.

“A just energy transition in ASEAN must shift power, not just technology. It must be gender-just, community- and workers-led, and rooted in care — not consultation without change. Embedding a Gender-Just and Inclusive Energy Transition by applying GEDSI frameworks in APAEC 2026–2030 is how we ensure equity, restore dignity, and build a future shaped by those most affected. We urge ASEAN to move from consultative processes to shared ownership, and from ownership to stewardship where policies are not only inclusive on paper but co-created with those bearing the brunt of the crisis,” said Ili Nadiah binti Dzulfakar, Programme Director, Klima Action Malaysia (KAMY).

This communique will be formally submitted to the ongoing 43rd ASEAN Ministers of Energy Meeting in Malaysia and in the upcoming ASEAN Summit in Malaysia.