In 2021, Globesight and TÜRKONFED convened a high-level roundtable to explore how clean and modern energy solutions could reshape the lives of displaced communities in Türkiye. As part of the global Clean Energy Challenge, a coalition of more than 200 partners announced at the Global Refugee Forum, the roundtable sought to translate an ambitious global commitment into a grounded, country-level conversation. The gathering brought together private sector leaders, international organizations, financiers, and development experts, creating a space where perspectives could converge across sectors and where clean energy, displacement, and gender equality were examined as interconnected elements of the same systemic challenge.

Facilitating the dialogue, I helped guide the group through a landscape shaped by policy realities, private sector incentives, and humanitarian needs. What emerged was a shared understanding of both urgency and opportunity: the recognition that equitable access to clean, reliable energy remains fundamental to dignity and resilience, yet unevenly distributed; and the acknowledgment that Türkiye’s rapidly evolving energy market with its decentralization trends, green-skills transitions, and expanding renewables sector holds untapped potential for displaced and host communities alike. The discussion repeatedly underscored that women and children, particularly in crisis settings, stand at the sharpest end of energy poverty, and therefore must be central to any sustainable solution.

Across the session, participants explored where collaboration could unlock new avenues for action from micro-grid models and localized renewable systems to investment approaches that prioritize gender equity and community resilience. The room reflected a clear truth: no single actor can shoulder the intersecting pressures of climate change, displacement, and socio-economic vulnerability. Progress requires integrated, cross-sector coordination, supported by innovative financing mechanisms and a willingness to bridge institutional boundaries.

The roundtable’s most enduring contribution was not a single decision or output, but the shift in thinking it generated. It introduced a new vocabulary around displacement-sensitive clean energy, surfaced promising models, and strengthened relationships among actors who had not previously engaged with one another in this way. While the broader initiative evolved along a different trajectory in subsequent years, the roundtable served as a catalyst, planting seeds for future partnerships and reframing how Türkiye’s private sector and development community might approach clean energy in vulnerable settings. Long after the meeting concluded, the ideas born in that room continued to shape conversations about what inclusive, locally grounded energy transitions could look like as Türkiye and the global community navigate increasingly complex climate and displacement challenges.