The declaration was made by student representatives from East Java who are members of the Society of Renewable Energy of Indonesia (SRE) and of Brawijaya University during the ASEAN Youth Movement Sustainability Week: Clean Energy for Better Sustainability even in Malang, East Java, on Saturday (May 6).
Through the declaration, the youths affirmed their commitment to supporting sustainable energy to achieve the target of net zero emissions (NZE) in Indonesia, Coordinator for Power Generation Planning from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Pramudya said in his statement.
The statement was made on behalf of the ministry's Director General of Electricity, who concurrently serves as the Energy SEO of Indonesia's ASEAN chairmanship.
To encourage youth's participation, he said, a number of actions will be taken, namely raising the youth's awareness on sustainable energy in Indonesia, creating a space for youth to learn and proactively contribute to promoting sustainable energy in all public forums, and increasing concrete contributions to sustainable energy programs in Indonesia.
"Hopefully, these actions will help to prepare more young Indonesians to be future human resources with adequate knowledge to partake in various programs to support sustainable energy transition in Indonesia," he said.
According to Pramudya, the ESDM Ministry was supporting the youth's commitment during Indonesia's ASEAN chairmanship this year.
Apart from making a declaration, the youth representatives were also given valuable lessons to broaden their outlook and boost their capability of making contributions to the energy transition, which is part of the sustainability pillar.
The energy sector is part of the sustainability pillar, which supports Indonesia's chairmanship in ASEAN with two other pillars: recovery and rebuilding and the digital economy.
The ministry official attached high importance to the utilization of new and renewable energy (EBT) to support the country's determination to achieve the net zero emission (NZE) target.
"Energy transition in terms of electricity projects to increase generators' capacity up to 741 GW with 100 percent of the energy generated from EBT generators. Inter-island connectivity is of essence for EBT sharing resources," he noted.
In order to achieve the NZE target in 2060 or sooner, he said, a plethora of professionals in the renewable energy sector are required. With that in mind, the Indonesian young generation would be needed to participate in the process.
Deputy Director of USAID Indonesia Erin Nicholson said that USAID was fully aware of the importance of echoing the voices of the young generation to accelerate energy transition in Indonesia through various initiatives, akin to the Youth Movement Sustainability Week.
"Today's youth are tomorrow's leaders, and we fully support their involvement in the efforts to expand reliable and equitable energy services in Indonesia," she remarked.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chancellor for Planning, Cooperation, and Internationalization of Brawijaya University Andi Kurniawan drew attention to the importance of the youth generation's role in sustainable technology and energy development.
"Technology constitutes a challenge to the renewable energy transition. Albert Einstein once said that technology was invented to elevate humans' welfare. But on the other hand, technology could also pose danger to humanity," he noted.
Kurniawan emphasized that technology must be constantly maintained and developed. Otherwise, it would be a demographic curse, he said.
During this term of chairmanship, the ESDM Ministry has encouraged all ASEAN members to make a declaration on the net zero emission (NZE) target at the 41st ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM) in August this year.
The joint commitment will serve as a foundation for the NZE ASEAN road map that will be used as a guideline to realize a fair, affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy transition under the principle of no one left behind by considering the socio-economic conditions and priorities of the respective ASEAN countries.
The ASEAN Youth Movement Sustainability Week: Clean Energy for Better Sustainability also featured a number of training programs, talk shows, and workshops.
The event was held online from May 1–5 and offline on May 6 under the collaboration of USAID-SINAR, Indonesia SRE, and Brawijaya University SRE.
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Translator: Kelik Dewanto, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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