Equipping Young Leaders for Clean Energy Innovation
Summary
In 2024, Student Energy committed to support local, youth-led clean energy deployment in the Global South between 2025 and 2027. This initiative will reach 2,500 young people across the Global South through job training, skill-building, and project development, plus thousands more via community-level project impacts. THis commitment will creat 5 newly established Student Energy Chapters, engaging 1,750 youth enrolled in Student Energy’s Fellowship and Career Training , 100 youth launching 20 clean energy SMEs or social enterprises through Student Energy’s Guided Projects, 250 youth attending both the 2025 and 2027 Student Energy Summit and 150 young clean energy leaders attending international conferences. Through Student Energy interventions, youth will accelerate the low-carbon transition through their careers, projects, and businesses, enabling economic growth in their communities.
Approach
Student Energy has committed to supporting local, youth-led clean energy deployment in the Global South between 2025 and 2027. 2,500 young people will be directly engaged in job training, skill-building, and project development, plus thousands more via community-level project impacts.
Through these interventions, youth will accelerate the low-carbon transition through their careers, projects, and businesses, enabling economic growth in their communities. This initiative aims to empower youth by enhancing their understanding of critical energy concepts, illuminating viable sector career pathways, fostering youth-led businesses and projects in renewables, and providing practical skills and support necessary to contribute across the energy value chain. Through this, Student Energy seek to bolster youths’ capacity to implement energy solutions and address employment demands in the clean energy sector.
5 newly established Student Energy Chapters
1,750 youth enrolled in Student Energy’s Fellowship and Career Training
100 youth launching 20 clean energy SMEs or social enterprises through Student Energy’s Guided Projects
250 youth attending both the 2025 and 2027 Student Energy Summit
150 young clean energy leaders attending international conferences Potential challenges include securing multi-year, flexible funding to expand our programs globally, obtaining legal consultancy to support growth and compliance, bridging the internet access divide, and supply-side job creation.
Student Energy has 15 years of experience as the world’s largest organization working with a global movement of young people on the energy transition. The three pillar programs — education, entrepreneurship, and advocacy — has reached 60,000 young people in 120 countries.
Student Energy will leverage our regional partners’ existing networks to reach new populations of youth and provide targeted interventions developed in consultation with local communities, in alignment with regionally specific contexts and needs.
Action Plan
Month 1: Formal launch of Student Energy’s Commitment to Action and promotion
Month 2 to 6: Internal systems development and expansion preparation through partnership building; targeted youth outreach in the Global South; fundraising toward implementation
Month 7 to 12: Establishment of 1 Student Energy Chapter; 500 youth receiving clean energy education and green jobs training; support for 4 youth-led clean energy SMEs or social enterprises, engaging 20 youth; support the attendance of 250 youth at the 2025 Student Energy Summit; 30 young leaders attending international conferences
Month 13 to 24: Establishment of 2 Student Energy Chapters; 625 youth receiving clean energy education and green jobs training; support for 8 youth-led clean energy SMEs or social enterprises, engaging 40 youth; 60 young leaders attending international conferences
Month 25 to 36: Establishment of 2 Student Energy Chapters; 625 youth receiving clean energy education and green jobs training; support for 8 youth-led clean energy SMEs or social enterprises, engaging 40 youth; support the attendance of 250 youth at the 2025 Student Energy Summit; 60 young leaders attending international conferences; completion of Commitment to Action
Background
By 2030, it is projected that an additional 14 million new clean energy jobs will be created as the world transitions towards a more sustainable global energy system. Despite recent improvements in energy expansion, more than 730 million individuals still lack access to electricity globally, with 675 million primarily residing in least developed countries and Sub-Saharan Africa.
With the Global South accounting for over 90% of the world’s population of 1.8 billion youth (15 to 29) , it has never been more critically important to engage young people in the energy transition workforce to bridge projected clean energy labor gaps, ensure decent jobs for youth, and support efforts towards achieving SDG 7, which calls for affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. This is especially important and impactful in regions across the Global South where motivated young people are deeply embedded in their communities and motivated to effect positive change yet face compounded challenges such as lack of an accessible and developed clean energy jobs market, socioeconomic and cultural barriers, and access to education.
Peer-reviewed, leading research developed by Student Energy underscores the unique potential of youth to accelerate progress toward universal energy access. Their keen awareness of the many co-benefits that can come from expanding energy access (spanning education, health, and economic well-being) , coupled with their innate innovation and adaptability, positions them as catalysts for the development of clean energy technologies.
This commitment will address emerging employment demands in clean energy-related jobs while supporting the renewable energy transition as a whole. The priority regions in the Global South where to be targeted through this approach include those that possess immense renewable energy potential and where youth face barriers to accessing education, training, and economic opportunities.
Progress Update
Partnership Opportunities
Student Energy welcomes the support of like-minded implementing partners and subject matter experts in order to better expand theirreach and activities within priority regions in the Global South, as well as those with contextualized and targeted knowledge of the communities they aim to support through their programmatic work. Student Energy also welcome support in the form of financial contributions, which will allow Student Energy to cover critical costs associated with monitoring and evaluation, report, administration, and regional staff support that will allow us to fully realize our Commitment to Action., Student Energy is eager to collaborate with fellow implementing partners committed to furthering SDG7 initiatives amongst global populations of youth. Student Energy is open to further sharing expertise related to meaningful youth inclusion and capacity building within the energy sector based on our extensive repertoire of research, as well as leveraging existing regional connections with youth, industry actors, public and private sector leaders in order to support like-minded projects and initiatives.