Webinar #2: Driving Prosperity in Southeast Asia with Demand-driven Clean Energy Skills Development

Webinar time: 8:00 CET / 14:00 ICT / 15:00 PHT

Background

Southeast Asia (SEA) is experiencing a dynamic transformation in skills development and workforce readiness, driven by technological advancements, climate imperatives, and evolving industry needs. Governments, private sector actors, and multilateral organizations are increasingly recognizing the importance of targeted skill-building initiatives to achieve sustainable economic growth, energy transitions, and youth employment outcomes. Building on high-level discussions at the CEM16 Ministerial Meeting in Busan (Aug 2025), and the momentum of the COP30 event in Belem (Nov 2025), this webinar series seeks to provide policymakers and decision-makers with a platform for knowledge exchange on global best practices in workforce development, skill-building strategies, and regulatory approaches to support sustainable economic growth and energy transition objectives.

Building on the success of the speaker series and IPEC toolkit for policymakers on workforce preparation for the clean energy economy, CEM Empowering People Initiative is partnering with Tara Climate Foundation to convene experts to inform resources targeted to Southeast Asia.

Objective & purpose

The overarching goal is to foster dialogue, learning, and collaboration among SEA stakeholders and global partners to align the availability of ‘green’ talent with projected clean energy growth in SEA; and support just transition frameworks across the region. Outcomes will shape the content of the other webinars in the series to better meet the workforce development challenges and needs of participants.

Specific objectives include:

• Knowledge Exchange: Share lessons and best practices from global and regional initiatives in workforce development.
• Leverage Resources: Identify gaps and highlight toolkits, regulatory frameworks, and private sector engagement strategies for SEA countries.
• Community Strengthening: Engage youth, policymakers, and industry actors to convene as a regional network, supporting green skills development and just transitions.

After the webinar series, an EPI Toolkit will be published, highlighting regional progress and scope, showcase best practices in the region, include strategies from private, industry, and public sector employers, and cover relevant policy approaches. Examples of scalable projects in a number of key areas will be included.