Student Energy Solutions Movement Launched under UN-HLDE

Student Energy, New Energy Nexus, and the Government of Denmark announced the launch of the Student Energy Solutions Movement to world leaders and governments at the United Nations High-level dialogue on Energy (UN-HLDE), Ministerial Thematic Forums.

This new, youth-led, global Energy Compact bridges the gap between motivation and action by directly funding and actively supporting the deployment of 10,000 youth-led clean energy projects by 2030.

As one of the first governments to champion the initiative, the Government of Denmark announced their commitment as the first confirmed funder of the Student Energy Solutions Movement:

"Tackling climate change is the biggest challenge of our time and it will not be easy, but seeing the motivation, innovation, creativity, and drive that young people around the world today are showing gives me hope that we will achieve our goals. The kind of ambition demonstrated by Student Energy to support 10,000 youth-led clean energy projects by 2030 is precisely what we need in order to accelerate the energy transition and achieve SDG7. Denmark is proud to be a funding partner of this initiative," says Asser Rasmussen Berling, Head of Department at the Centre for Global Climate Action at The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities, Denmark.

Student Energy's Solutions Movement Energy Compact aims to resource and deploy 10,000 youth-led clean energy projects by 2030, creating structural change by putting real financial resources in the hands of the world's most passionate youth. Funding required to meet this objective is $10 million by December 2021, and $150 million by 2030. The Compact will scale tangible action by young people 18-30 years old through a unique combination of project funding and education, training, and mentorship within Student Energy's programs ecosystem. 

"For decades, youth ambition and motivation have existed to transition our world to a more sustainable and equitable energy system, there just simply hadn't been the resourcing to bridge that motivation into action. In launching the solutions movement, we're shifting gears into taking action and deploying the energy and technology solutions we already have at our fingertips. I want to commend the High-level Dialogue on Energy for putting youth front and center, and for moving so quickly to get our global network engaged. It's refreshing to see other organizations move with the same hustle and pace as the world's young people!," said Meredith Adler, Executive Director, Student Energy.

Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), said "Every stakeholder has a key role to play as we aim to meet the SDG7 and Paris Agreement targets, including youth, and I am pleased to see the leadership being demonstrated by Student Energy with this Energy Compact commitment. SEforALL's first ever Youth Summit, held in February 2020, demonstrated our renewed commitment to bringing youth to the fore in this critical year, and it is great to see one of our organizing partners for the Summit come full circle by setting the pace for other young people to follow. This shows that beyond bringing their voices to the table, young people can design and fund the innovations required to achieve our energy and climate goals."