Energy for an Equal Future: Jitsai Santaputra

Growing up in Bangkok, Jitsai Santabut rarely experienced power cuts. That changed when she moved to Kenya. There, electricity outages were part of daily life. Refrigerators stopped working, food spoiled, televisions went dark, and water systems failed without warning. As a child, not knowing when the lights would come back on was unsettling. Over time, it revealed something deeper: energy access is not a matter of convenience, but of equality.

When power fails in hospitals, surgeries are interrupted. Lives are put at risk. For Jitsai, this made one thing clear: reliable and affordable electricity is a basic necessity that everyone deserves.

Motivated by this understanding, she co-founded Youth for Energy Southeast Asia to help drive Thailand’s transition toward clean energy. She believes this transition cannot be shaped by experts alone. Energy policy is often decided by a small group, while the voices of young people and communities most affected remain on the margins.

To help change that balance, Jitsai worked with youth energy leaders to produce a joint report with United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, titled Youth4JET: Youth as Partners in Achieving SDG7. The report reinforces a simple message: clean energy is a fundamental right, closely tied to human dignity.

Alongside this work, Jitsai advocates for stronger roles for women and young people in shaping energy policy. She points to the UN Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change as a meaningful example of how youth perspectives can inform decisions at the global level.

“A just energy transition means leaving no one behind,” she says. “It improves quality of life for entire communities.”

For Jitsai, using energy responsibly is not only about sustainability. It is about ensuring the world does not return to the kind of darkness she once experienced, when access to power was uncertain and inequality was impossible to ignore.