Student Energy at Climate Week New York 2024

Event Highlights

Given its strategic timing on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, New York Climate Week also offered a fantastic venue for celebrating Student Energy’s 15th anniversary, reflecting on our remarkable achievements in activating young people to accelerate the clean energy transition while at the same time looking toward our future through the release of our 2030 Vision. 

This vision centres around four key pillars we plan to prioritize over the coming years, including fostering global and local community-building through our Chapters network and bi-annual Student Energy Summit; expanding career pathways for young people in clean energy through our Career Training and Fellowship programs; providing grants to high-impact and needs-driven energy projects through our Guided Projects program; and creating new educational opportunities for youth through intergenerational collaboration and meaningful youth inclusion.

It’s these core thematic areas that guided our efforts and advocacy during New York Climate Week. In particular, Student Energy announced a new Commitment to Action as part of the Clinton Global Initiative’s (CGI) 2024 Annual Meeting, which took place in New York between September 22 and 23. This commitment, Equipping Young Leaders for Clean Energy Innovation, aims to advance youth-led clean energy deployment in the Global South, directly engaging 2,500 young people from 2025 to 2027 through job training, skill-building, and project development, with far-reaching benefits impacting thousands more in local communities. Student Energy is delighted to join organizations such as Imagine Worldwide, Ashley Lashley Foundation, and Young Activists Summit in making a Commitment to Action, and we’ll be monitoring our progress toward our goals over the coming years. 

We also had the opportunity to learn from a number of inspiring leaders and experts in the space, through events like the Global Renewables Summit, Resilience Day: Innovating and Investing for People and Planet, and EnergyNow SDG7 Action Forum, as well as those hosted by partners and organizations like Trottier Foundation, Youth Climate Justice Fund, Women Leading on Climate, Time for Better, Rockefeller Foundation, and more. 

Speaking & Moderating Engagements

Sharing Benefits of An Inclusive Renewable Energy Transition

Helen was a speaker at the Global Renewables Alliance’s roundtable discussion, Sharing Benefits of An Inclusive Renewable Energy Transition, hosted as part of the Global Renewables Summit, in which representatives from both the private sector and civil society presented case studies and best practices for accelerating the deployment of renewable energy technologies, while also exploring how to ensure the energy transition is inclusive, the importance of collaboration, and how to ensure that its benefits are distributed equitably to all. 

Flipping the Script: Mobilising the Youth Perspective on Positive Tipping Points

Helen also took part in the Global Optimism-hosted event, Flipping the Script: Mobilising the Youth Perspective on Positive Tipping Points, as moderator, diving into the importance of youth leveraging storytelling and creative communications in order to amplify messages of agency and hope that are founded in the concept of positive tipping points. 

A Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue on Climate Action: Young Practitioners and Their Role in Technology Transformation

Grace spoke at the event A Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue on Climate Action: Young Practitioners and Their Role in Technology Transformation, hosted by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), which explored the technological transformations that must take place in order to address pressing sustainability issues and catalyze climate action.

Mainstreaming Gender & Youth for SDG 7: Challenges & Opportunities for Young Women Entering the Workforce

Grace further moderated a session during the Energy Now SDG 7 Action Forum, Mainstreaming Gender & Youth for SDG 7: Challenges & Opportunities for Young Women Entering the Workforce, which featured dialogue on the challenges and opportunities for mainstreaming gender and youth perspectives in support of the achievement of SDG 7 – which calls for access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all – and focused on the empowerment of women within the energy transition.

Hosted Events 

Clean Energy Career Pathways for Youth in the Global South

Student Energy was thrilled to host our very own event during New York Climate Week, in partnership with New Energy Nexus and Linked In, titled Clean Energy Career Pathways for Youth in the Global South. Drawing perspectives from Andrew Chang (Chief Growth Officer, New Energy Nexus), Hamd Akmal (Student, NYU), moderator Cammie Erickson (Senior Director of Social Impact, LinkedIn), and our very own Executive Director, Helen Watts, this event offered both inspiring and critical dialogue on the importance of engaging meaningfully with young people and providing them with necessary green skills and support to drive an inclusive and equitable clean energy transition, while also acknowledging the unique ways in which youth from the Global South are positioned to foster radical change. 

We are immensely proud of the outcomes our partnerships with both of these organizations have achieved in this regard, and we look forward to many future collaborations which continue to work to enable young people as agents of change.

Intergenerational Roundtable on the Future of Climate

On Friday, we also supported an Intergenerational Roundtable on the Future of Climate, which brought together a number of young leaders and senior leaders from various sectors and organizations to foster meaningful dialogue and collaboration in order to empower youth in driving impactful climate solutions, while also amplifying youth voices and emphasizing the need to allocate resources effectively to address the climate crisis. 

This conversation developed from an understanding that youth largely remain tokenized and deprived of meaningful representation within decision-making spaces – despite the growing role they play in tackling the climate crisis and addressing the energy transition – and builds off of conversations Student Energy hosted last year in partnership with the Climate Emergency Collaboration Group, which brought together youth and philanthropy to explore existing challenges, opportunities, and collaborative strategies to spur the energy transition through impactful youth-driven projects. 

Stay tuned for a full report with findings from both of these conversations! We hope that these outcomes will catalyze broader gatherings between youth and a variety of industries and sectors and foster meaningful support for youth as drivers of a sustainable energy transition and climate change action. 

Looking Forward

New York Climate Week highlighted the role and power that partnerships play to disrupt climate narratives and to ensure that we are centring the voices of youth and underrepresented communities. By mobilizing support for young people across different platforms, we aim to mainstream youth-forward perspectives, programs, and policies that support a just transition.

With New York Climate Week now behind us, we’re looking forward to rest and rejuvenation as we prepare for the end of 2024 and are excited to carry forward our successes into another impactful year. If you’re interested in learning more about our work and engagements at events, please connect with us at michelle@studentenergy.org.