Peruvian Youth in the Energy Transition: An Opportunity for All
By Lorena Cordero, Fellowship Coordinator at Student Energy
This article originally appear in Spanish, in Energy magazine. Check it out here!
One of the most powerful messages during the Youth4Climate: Driving Ambition[1] event, was that youth no longer want to be seen as victims of climate catastrophe, but rather as active agents playing a crucial role in climate action and the transition to a sustainable energy future.
According to the Global Youth Energy Outlook[2], youth-led research project that gathered the contributions of over 40,000 young people from all over the world, young people prioritize the achievement of a sustainable energy future. Youth representatives identified different barriers depending on their region – for example, in Latin America, youth identified government policies as one of the main barriers to achieving a sustainable energy future, whilst in Africa it was the lack of technology diffusion. Indeed, social, political, and environmental contexts have led youth initiatives to champion specific priorities and tangible solutions.
In Peru, the National Employment Policy pointed out the need to create and promote jobs within the framework of a just transition towards a green and productive economy by 2030. Considering young people represent nearly 25% of the total population in the country and it comprises a third of the working-age population[3], the just transition is a must. According to the Ministry of Labour and Employment Promotion, in November 2020, the energy sector had 4,512 young workers, of which only 26% had completed a university degree[4].
Empowering youth innovation: Student Energy Fellowship
How many innovative ideas reside within youth? How many of these youth have support to finance, develop, and scale these ideas? Student Energy, a global organization led by young people, has been working since 2009 on the empowerment of youth to accelerate the transition towards sustainable energy. One of its programs is the Student Energy Fellowship that provides core energy systems education and builds project management and leadership skills for young people to act on the energy system. The Fellowship acts as a hub that identifies and supports youth projects around the world for 10 months, promoting networking with fellows from around the world, and mentoring sessions on how to break into energy careers.
In 2021, 130 young people from the five continents participated in the Fellowship, with 42% of the cohort representing Latin America. This year, Student Energy has a greater presence in our country with ten Peruvian teams selected, among which are undergraduate, postgraduate, and young professionals who have been chosen from the cities of Lima, Piura, Arequipa, La Libertad, and Ancash. The projects are related to capacity building, energy efficiency, sustainable housing, feasibility of solar projects, among others. These projects share the commitment to create an impact in their communities and it represents one step forward in their professional careers.
With the joint support of the private, public, and non-governmental sectors, these youth projects can be replicated in different regions and thus show the commitment to achieve a fair energy transition and support climate action. If you are interested in learning more about the projects in the country or in the region, visit https://studentenergy.org and/or contact us at info@studentenergy.org
[1] The event was developed within the framework of COP26 and was one of the youth events to put forward ideas and concrete proposals related to climate change issues.
[2] Global Youth Energy Outlook (GYEO) was developed by Student Energy in 2021. The research identifies the priorities of more than 40,000 young people between the ages of 18 and 30 around the world to achieve a sustainable energy future.
[3] The data is based on the National Youth Policy, approved by Supreme Decree No. 013-2019-MINEDU
[4] In 2021, a freedom of information request was made to the Ministry of Labor and Employment Promotion, which indicated that there is no data on young wage earners in the formal private sector in the Energy Sector, since the National Household Survey on Living Conditions and Poverty, the main source of information on the labor market, does not have statistical representation at the disaggregation level. However, they provided information based on the electronic forms as of November 2020, considering young people between 18 and 29 years of age.