Student Energy Summit
Since 2009, the International Student Energy Summit (SES) has united 4000+ young people from over 200 countries, earning a reputation as the world’s biggest and most diverse youth energy event. In 2025, we are building on the legacy of the Summit and bringing our flagship event to the Amazon Rainforest. SES 2025 will take place in Manaus, Brazil, from October 29th – November 1st 2025, hosted by the Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM), in collaboration with Student Energy.
In the heart of the Amazon Rainforest in Manaus, Brazil, the 8th International Student Energy Summit (SES 2025) will harness the power of youth-led change to communities worldwide. SES 2025 will be the world’s largest youth energy event, bringing together 500 young changemakers from across the globe to accelerate the just transition, equipping these innovators with the networks and skills to tackle real-world energy and climate challenges.
The Amazon Rainforest is essential for the world’s ecological balance – safeguarding biodiversity and supporting local communities’ cultural and ecological continuity. With this regional importance in mind, SES 2025 will focus on the role of traditional communities, especially those living in areas of high biodiversity, in shaping innovative solutions to energy challenges. The Amazon Rainforest provides the perfect setting for delegates and global leaders to explore how energy solutions can be leveraged and adapted to fit local realities, ensuring progress directly benefits the communities and ecosystems.
STUDENT ENERGY SUMMIT 2023
In November 2023, the Student Energy Summit (SES) took place in the United Arab Emirates for the very first time, hosted by New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD). Under the theme Reimagining the Future, hundreds of students gathered in Abu Dhabi.
With our goal of Reimagining the Future we are creating a sustainable outlook for the energy transition by connecting the youth of today to leaders of the energy sector to educate the leaders of tomorrow. The summit was the world’s largest and most diverse youth-led energy conference, hosted in the Middle East and in collaboration with local and global partners. We empowered a new generation of energy sector leaders and highlighted the success story and the vision of the UAE’s energy transition.
NYUAD is a pioneer in sustainability initiatives in the UAE. Through strategies spanning every university area, NYUAD aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, support teaching and research, and provide resources and guidance in establishing a culture of sustainability. We gathered over 650 young student leaders worldwide to cultivate innovative ideas, collaborate, and reimagine the future of the energy sector and pathways to sustainability.
Student Energy Summit by the Numbers
11
plenary sessions
12
parallel panel discussions
16
partner workshops
120
speakers from 42 countries
Past Student Energy Summits
“Student Energy gave me this really international perspective. I’ve always been involved in politics so I’ve been mixing politics with engineering and energy engineering and always knew that I wanted to work with policy to influence society, but before Student Energy I was more interested in, I think national politics. But Student Energy really broadened my perspective, I started thinking more in an international way, how can we influence the energy system on a global level? Being at the Student Energy Summit in Indonesia gave me perspectives from all around the world and really seeing that the energy system is much broader and you have to work with it on a global level.”>
Emma Wiesner
“It’s been incredible to see 650 people getting together, students from different parts of the world with different mindsets, and the fact that there are a lot of people – not just engineers – who see the importance of doing this. I was very impressed with the movement, and I’m so excited to try and get hands-on and find something to do within Student Energy. I’m going to go back and have this in the back of my mind when I go back home to Botswana, I intend to look around and see exactly what is it that I can do. When I move on in my career, how exactly can I still do it in a way that’s sustainable, that is still going to help me be responsible with the way that I do things in the world, and to educate people and other students that everybody has to be informed and be a part of this, because the time to act is now.”
Dorrica Lesendi Henriksen
SES 2019 Delegate – Botswana
“I think one of the biggest highlights is just the opportunity to really connect, network, and have great conversations with other amazing young people from all around the world who are working on so many great things. So many of them are engineers, business students, arts students, and we have all these different perspectives and the same goal and vision so it’s just been an amazing opportunity to collaborate with others.”
Maheep Sandhu
SES 2019 Delegate – Canada | Co-Founder, Student Energy at Carleton University
Stories
Over Student Energy’s 11 year history, our alums have gone on to make an impact in their communities and globally, in diverse sectors. Check out some of their stories:
