Financing Youth Actions
The Role of Governments in Unlocking Private Finance for Youth Actions on SDG 7
The youth play an important role in the journey toward a climate-resilient and sustainable future. Through different actions including innovative activities, awareness campaigns and mobilising towards influencing energy and climate policies in different international forums, the youth have gained an impressive recognition not only as a force for impacting sustainable societal, economic and policy changes but as innovators whose actions if well-resourced and upscaled could contribute massively to the socio-technical transitions the energy system is currently confronted by.
Within this framework, the IRENA Global Council on Enabling Youth Action for SDG 7 organised a workshop on the role of governments in bridging the gap between private climate-energy finance and youth-led actions while privileging youth actions for SDG7. The workshop, organised under the IRENA Youth Talk initiative, took place virtually on 27 June 2022 from 18:00 to 19:30 GST, and its outcome will contribute to the NDC Partnership Youth Engagement Forum that will take place from 21 to 28 July 2022.
Divided into two key sessions, the first session of the workshop featured a capacity-building presentation session on to increase participants’ understanding of the different types of private finance, the range of sources, and forms of private finance that could be tapped into for youth-led action on SDG7.
The second session featured an intergenerational dialogue focused on highlighting the various youth actions on SDG7, opportunities and challenges for youth actions, projects and businesses requiring resources, and the role of government in bridging the gap between private climate-energy financing available for youth in SDG7; this session was curtain raised by thought-provoking statements from specially invited guests to set the stage for the interactive breakout dialogues focusing on three themes:
- Breakout Room 1 – Youth in Action: Progressive youth-led energy innovative initiatives
- Breakout Room 2 – Sustainable Energy Funding: Addressing the financing gap and access inequality challenge
- Breakout Room 3 – Government interventions: Unlocking private climate-energy finance for youth in SDG7
This breakout room focused discussions on highlighting different progressive youth actions, projects and initiatives that promote the achievement of SDG7, bringing together different youth energy and climate leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators into dialogue with one another and senior stakeholders. During this breakout room, participants shared their experiences and insights including opportunities and challenges to access private financing for their energy and climate initiatives and businesses.
This breakout room focused on solutions to challenges associated with securing sustainable energy financing needed to achieve SDG7 by 2030, the financial gaps that currently stand in hundreds of billions of dollars, and the inequalities existing in accessing available financing between developed and developing countries – and how this global complexities and challenges for securing and accessing sustainable energy funding affects projects and business conducted by youth in energy.
This breakout consultation focused on some of the opportunities that have been taken by governments and multinational organisations in supporting youth action SDG7 and how this has translated to bridging the gap between private climate financing and youth energy project and innovations, culminating in effective next steps to be taken by government leaders, policymakers and negotiators for the benefit of youth in SDG7.
The event strived for a global and balanced geographical representation of youth and senior experts, and highly encourages participation from all countries.
People of all ages were invited to attend by registering.
Should you have any questions, please contact youth@irena.org.