The world of policy making is fed by endless reports presenting data and advocating for change, and now the young people of the world can add their version to the pile.
Student Energy, a Canadian youth-led charity that aims to empower the next generation of world leaders pushing for a just transition to sustainable energy, published the results of a major global survey on Thursday that showed that most young people want their countries to move much faster in reducing their emissions.
“It’s a moment of real power in numbers to put more public pressure on these leaders to radically address their schedules,” said Helen Watts, Toronto-based director of innovation and partnerships for Student Energy.
Watts said he first thought of the concept two years ago while feeling out of place in some UN-run spaces where reports were flying.
“I had this lightbulb moment where we don’t really have hard global data that reflects what young people want to see for the energy transition,” he said. National Observer of Canada the Thursday following the release of the outlook.
“Create this window where it is too easy for politicians and decision makers to ignore or undermine young people calling for change because they will excuse themselves that they don’t really know what young people want.”
More than 40,000 young people between the ages of 16 and 30 have so far completed the group’s survey, while Student Energy has also hosted more than 40 discussions to better understand regional details and differences of views.
Most of those surveyed want their country to reach net zero emissions by 2030, according to the report, well before the 2050 deadline of the most ambitious governments.
Half of those who responded said their country had not invested enough in climate action, and another 12 percent said they had not invested at all.
In the 10 regions in which the group divided the world, the best option to finance the transition was a 46% tax for emissions producers, while that policy lever was especially popular in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Student Energy, a Canadian youth-led charity that aims to empower the next generation of world leaders pushing for a just transition to sustainable energy, released the results of a major global survey on Thursday. # COP26 # COP26xCNO
More than 42 percent of the youth surveyed said they were very concerned about emissions from the current energy system and another 30 percent were moderately concerned.
Young people in developing and emerging economies were the most concerned, with 89% in Latin America, Southeast Asia and the Pacific, for example, while it fell to 65% and 67% in Europe and North America, respectively.
Student Energy’s next step is to develop a set of action tools for young people to use to drive change, launching an initial consultation at the UN Youth Conference that took place in Glasgow just before COP26.
Their report called on countries and companies to commit to a just transition of the industry by building local innovation systems for industry decarbonization that engage youth, investing in transition skills training for today’s workforce. and future, and creating avenues for young people to be directly involved in policy processes. , decision making and research and development on industry decarbonization solutions.
Jonathan Wilkinson of Canada, newly appointed minister for natural resources after several years as minister for the environment, attended the launch event and said that youth participation was a two-way street.
“It is extremely valuable to have the results of the work that you have done, but it is equally valuable to ensure that there is a sustained dialogue on an ongoing basis about how some of the learnings are taken and tried to be implemented in policy,” he said. , inviting conversation with his office, which he said is in the process of creating a youth council.
While younger voters are more likely to support sustainability policies, they are much less likely to show up to vote.
“Your weight can change the outcome of the election to the extent that it weighs the same as people 65 and older, which has not historically been the case in recent years,” he said.
Student Energy’s regional coordinator for Europe, Linette Knudsen from Denmark, said having political spaces for young people to get involved is a good thing, but that they should include a mandate for change.
“There should be proposals that arise from the dialogue that both the youth and the legislators can support, and I think that sometimes that is lacking, that sometimes the participation of young people becomes a sample,” he said.
Morgan Sharp / Local Journalism Initiative / Canada National Observer
Reference-www.nationalobserver.com