A first of its kind report, the Outlook will set the baseline for what young people expect from the sustainable energy transition, and how they want to work with governments and energy industry companies to make change happen. 

Learn more about the Outlook, and the team that’s helping to make it all happen at www.studentenergy.org/outlook

Our goals

• To empower young people to effectively communicate with their elected representatives and other decision makers
• To demonstrate that young people around the world have the ability to come together in a cohesive way to imagine their energy future, making young people one of the most important partners in building a sustainable energy system
• To demystify what young people want want to see in the sustainable energy transition, and outline the principles to guide the transition

How is the Outlook being developed?

With Student Energy, twelve youth Regional Coordinators from around the world are working to engage a total of 50,000 young people in a 6-month long research process to identify young people’s priorities for their region across policy, technology, society, and finance. 

Following a two-phase research process, they will develop regional roadmaps to 2030, outlining how their region can decarbonize its energy system, and how young people want to be part of that transition. 

These regional roadmaps will be a guide for policymakers and elected representatives, companies in the energy sector, academic institutions, and other organizations to be able to form more meaningful and equitable relationships with young people in their region.

With uncertainty about the long-term impacts of COVID-19 on the world’s resiliency and climate commitments, it will be more important than ever that young people are empowered and mobilized to raise ambition on the sustainable energy transition in the next decade. 

What’s next

Phase 1 Research Questionnaire

The development of the Outlook takes place in two phases: a broad questionnaire aimed at young people 18-30 from all backgrounds, followed by a Phase II that includes regional community dialogues. Fill out the questionnaire here.

Regional Coordinator Interview Series

In the next few days, we will introduce each of our Regional Coordinators through an interview series on Student Energy Stories and on our Instagram.

Partnership Launch

The Outlook development process couldn’t take place without the important contributions of our funding partners and strategic partners. Over the next few weeks, we will introduce our partners, outline the support they’re providing for the Outlook, and share new partnership opportunities.

Links to donate, petitions, and anti-racism resource guides can be found at the bottom of this post.

The widespread activism and collective organizing in the United States, Canada, and now globally over the past several days has brought racial injustice to the forefront of digital media and discourse. This movement is not new: Black activists and organizations, particularly young people, have been organizing for decades to dismantle and rebuild inherently racist and unjust legal, educational, and governance systems that give rise to police brutality and state violence. However, this moment calls for all organizations regardless of sector to learn, support and amplify movements led by Black activists, and to encourage their network to do the same.

While systemic racism and police violence in the United States may dominate news media coverage, we cannot ignore that systemic racism and state violence are prevalent in Canada as well. Ongoing violence against Black and Indigenous communities in Canada is something we must address even after this moment, even in spaces or situations where it may not be comfortable to do so.

In the energy industry and in the energy and climate advocacy space, there is an underlying, and often unnamed issue: While some organizations do advocate for justice and equity as an integral part of a sustainable energy future, there are countless others whose advocacy is limited only to technological and policy solutions to reduce emissions and achieve economic growth. These incomplete approaches aim to address the climate crisis without explicitly addressing the systemic racism and injustice present in the energy system, in the climate crisis, and in the environmental movement. As Student Energy’s vision is to empower young people to create an energy future that is both sustainable and equitable, it’s extremely important to start this conversation with our fellow organizations in the energy space.

Student Energy’s Theory of Change outlines our values as an organization, and these values are centered on listening to and empowering young people and embedding equity and climate justice as an integral part of the energy transition. Recognizing that we are often in spaces where we are one of few youth-led organizations represented, raising critical questions on justice and equity in relation to the energy transition and climate change is an important part of our daily work. Here are some immediate and long-term actions we are taking as an organization to ensure that we are also explicitly incorporating anti-racist principles and advocacy to the work that we do:

• We are researching and developing a framework to embed anti-racism and equity into how we design and collaborate on programs with our partners. This framework will serve to increase the accessibility of our programs to BIPOC youth, resourcing for BIPOC youth-led sustainable energy initiatives, and support youth-led work with direct impacts on human rights in energy such as universal access, health and safety, energy in disaster responses, anti-discrimination in energy, community and Indigenous rights, and the relationship between conflict and energy.

• We will be adding additional anti-racism resources to our Communicating Justice and Equity in the Energy Transition training that is a part of staff onboarding. This resource is an introduction to the concepts of energy and climate justice, and explores historical and ongoing inequity across all aspects of the global energy system. For a condensed introduction to energy justice, including a case study of anti-Blackness in the energy system, please see our social media resource here.

• The impacts of climate change, the economic downturn, and the long-term effects of COVID-19 will be disproportionately felt by BIPOC communities. As we are an organization based in Canada, we will be advocating for Canada’s climate plans and COVID-19 recovery efforts to address systemic racial and economic inequity and include plans on how the future clean economy will not just be sustainable, but equitable.

Read more about what it means to have a just recovery from COVID-19 here.

• We will continue to seek out, work with, compensate and recommend Black-led organizations, speakers, and service providers.
• We will hold space in the workplace far beyond the next several weeks to continue to learn together about what anti-racist advocacy looks like for Student Energy, for the global climate movement, and for our team as individuals.

Finally, we want to emphasize that Student Energy’s conversations on equity and anti-racism in the climate and energy space will continue well beyond this current moment. We are committed to ongoing learning as an organization, and taking action to address anti-Black, anti-Indigenous and other forms of racism in the climate and energy space. We are committed to addressing economic and power inequities for young people globally and at an intersectional level, whether that means reducing barriers to access leadership-development and educational opportunities, accessing decision-making spaces, or being better equipped to implement appropriate climate solutions for their communities.

—

If you are able to, one effective way to take action no matter where you are is by donating to support directly affected individuals, community organizations, and frontline organizers. On Instagram, we shared links to donate to the following organizations and fundraisers that are seeking donations at this time:

•       Black Lives Matter
•       NAACP Legal Defense Fund
•       Black Visions Collective
•       Reclaim the Block
•       Official George Floyd Memorial Fund
•       Justice for Regis GoFundMe

Please see the following lists for more organizations to support and ways to take action – these are continuously updated:

•       Support funds, anti-racism resource guides, petitions and ways to take action (includes Canada-focused actions)
•       Support bail funds and organizers
•       Support harmed Black-owned businesses

Our mission at COP 25: Setting the stage for youth-led solutions

• Amplify the youth voice, and highlight young people’s leadership in transforming the energy system.
• Put the wheels in motion for an unprecedented level of global youth leadership and intergenerational collaboration at next year’s critical COP26. 
• Communicate progress on countries’ and non-state actors’ goals to decarbonize their energy systems, and their efforts to involve youth in that process.
• Advocate for stronger leadership from government and industry decision-makers in the energy sector to implement energy solutions that are just, equitable, in partnership with young people.

Context for COP 25

The world is not on track. But there is a crucial window of opportunity.

Throughout 2019, we’ve seen (and been a part of) the rapidly growing global youth movement calling for stronger climate action. Young people are not only sounding the alarm on the climate crisis, they are ready and driven to implement cross-cutting solutions to address the challenge at the pace it requires.

So it is all the more frustrating that as a global society, we are not yet on track to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions quickly enough to keep global heating to below 1.5C. The latest Emissions Gap report paints a devastating picture of where we are and where we’re going — toward a 3.2 degree warmer world if we don’t accelerate action now. UN Secretary General Antonio Gutierres noted today that we are set to produce more fossil fuels than is consistent with a 1.5 degree pathway. 

How can we change course?

”Countries must increase their NDC ambitions threefold to achieve the well below 2°C goal and more than fivefold to achieve the 1.5°C goal.” – Emissions Gap Report 2019

Next year, COP 26, will mark five years since the signing of the Paris Agreement, and parties will be expected to strengthen their NDCs, or Nationally Determined Contributions, which are the tangible efforts put forward by countries to reduce their emissions and adapt to climate change. In order to bend the emissions curve downward, countries will need to drastically strengthen their NDCs, particularly in regards to transforming their energy systems. And we know this can’t be done without the active and meaningful engagement of young people around the world.

About Student Energy

Student Energy is on a mission to empower young people around the world to accelerate the sustainable energy transition, by building the important skills young people to take action, while mobilizing resources to support youth-led energy solutions. Our global network of 50,000 young people come from 150 countries, from all academic and professional backgrounds, with a shared goal to build their sustainable energy future.

December 2nd marks the start of COP 25, led by the Chilean Presidency, but held in Madrid, Spain. Student Energy has 4 team members on the ground this year, and we are closely following the negotiations, while advocating for meaningful youth inclusion and youth-led energy solutions to play a central role in countries’ efforts to tackle the climate crisis. The last-minute change in venue from Chile to Madrid has also left many young people unable to attend, so Student Energy is even more committed to amplify the youth voice at this year’s conference.

Our Mission at COP 25: Set the Stage for Youth-Led Solutions

• Amplify the youth voice, and highlight young people’s leadership in transforming the energy system.
• Put the wheels in motion for an unprecedented level of global youth leadership and intergenerational collaboration at next year’s critical COP26. 
• Communicate progress on countries’ and non-state actors’ goals to decarbonize their energy systems, and their efforts to involve youth in that process.
• Advocate for stronger leadership from government and industry decision-makers in the energy sector to implement energy solutions that are just, equitable, in partnership with young people.

We’ll be sharing what we’re seeing and learning, and how we’re taking action, on our social media. Join us: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

CONTEXT FOR COP 25

The world is not on track. But there is a crucial window of opportunity.

Throughout 2019, we’ve seen (and been a part of) the rapidly growing global youth movement calling for stronger climate action. Young people are not only sounding the alarm on the climate crisis, they are ready and driven to implement cross-cutting solutions to address the challenge at the pace it requires.

So it is all the more frustrating that as a global society, we are not yet on track to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions quickly enough to keep global heating to below 1.5C. The latest Emissions Gap report paints a devastating picture of where we are and where we’re going — toward a 3.2 degree warmer world if we don’t accelerate action now. UN Secretary General Antonio Gutierres noted today that we are set to produce more fossil fuels than is consistent with a 1.5 degree pathway. 

How can we change course?

“COUNTRIES MUST INCREASE THEIR NDC AMBITIONS THREEFOLD TO ACHIEVE THE WELL BELOW 2°C GOAL AND MORE THAN FIVEFOLD TO ACHIEVE THE 1.5°C GOAL.”

(Emissions Gap Report 2019)

Next year, COP 26, will mark five years since the signing of the Paris Agreement, and parties will be expected to strengthen their NDCs, or Nationally Determined Contributions, which are the tangible efforts put forward by countries to reduce their emissions and adapt to climate change. In order to bend the emissions curve downward, countries will need to drastically strengthen their NDCs, particularly in regards to transforming their energy systems. And we know this can’t be done without the active and meaningful engagement of young people around the world.

About Student Energy

Student Energy is on a mission to empower young people around the world to accelerate the sustainable energy transition, by building the important skills young people to take action, while mobilizing resources to support youth-led energy solutions. Our global network of 50,000 young people come from 150 countries, from all academic and professional backgrounds, with a shared goal to create their sustainable energy future.

New York City, September 21^st – 23^rd 2019

This week, Student Energy is participating at the Youth and UN Climate Summit as a delivery partner of the Secretary-General’s Youth and Public Mobilization and Energy Transition Action Tracks. Student Energy is working with the UN Climate Action Summit team, Secretary-General’s Office of the Special Envoy on Youth, and other stakeholders to engage youth in the UN Climate Summit, Youth Summit and broader climate-energy activities during the week of September 21st. Follow along with us @studentenergy on Twitter and Instagram!

 Our Activities

• (September 21st) Student Energy is working with the UN Climate Action Summit Team, the Environmental Defense Fund, Mission 2020 and Mission Innovation to deliver the two-part event: Transformative Solutions: Next Generation Technology and the Youth Movement under the Energy Transition Action Track held at the United Nations Headquarters from 11:30 – 12:45, and 15:00-18:00.

• Two youth from Student Energy’s network are on the Summit’s youth working group, comprised of 30 young leaders from around the world who are providing direct input to the preparation of the Youth Summit agenda.

• (September 22nd) Student Energy is participating as one of 200 high-level energy stakeholders at the Energy Action Forum to: raise ambition, represent youth as a key stakeholder, and determine the optimal approaches to accelerating the sustainable energy transition.

• (September 23rd) OGCI Annual CEO and Stakeholders Dialogue: OGCI is convening a CEO stakeholder day to talk about how the oil and gas industry and scaling up action on climate. Student Energy is organizing and coaching a cohort of 25 youth to engage with the world’s largest energy companies as key stakeholders on the energy future, with the goal of having their voice influence the decisions made by large energy actors.

• (September 23rd) Student Energy will be participating at the UN Climate Action Summit to support initiatives under the Energy Transition, and Youth and Public Mobilization action areas. Student Energy’s priority at the UN Climate Action Summit is to highlight the pathways and initiatives underway that enable youth to influence political will across the globe.

• (September 24th) Student Energy will bring a youth delegation to participate in Sustainable Energy For All’s Seven for 7  event.

• Youth Roundtable with Sky Power Global: Student Energy is preparing a cohort of 15 young people to participate in a roundtable discussion with SkyPower Global, to discuss how youth play a role in the energy transition and what youth want from meaningful careers in energy.

• Digital engagement: Student Energy will be elevating discussions at the UN Climate Summit to our larger global audience, through social media channels, write-ups in collaboration with partners, informational webinars, and interviews with leaders working on the UN Climate Action Summit.

• Side Events at Climate Week NYC 2019: Student Energy will be on the ground attending side events led by government, the private sector and civil society – reach out to learn more or to share your event.

Following the inaugural Youth Leaders Forum at the 10th Clean Energy Ministerial and 4th Mission Innovation Ministerial, members of the young leaders delegation have created a position statement to synthesize their recommendations for the world’s energy leaders to accelerate the transition to a just and sustainable energy future.

The young leaders’ position statement presents five solutions, including diverse and inclusive climate action, and a call to CEM/MI member countries to meaningfully support youth engagement at future CEM/MI meetings.

Download the full statement here.