- Student
- 13/01/2020
TU/e student joins international discussion on sustainability
TU/e student Jelle Heijne is spending this week pondering the energy transition and the opportunities available for creating a sustainable future. He is in Abu Dhabi with other young people from across the world, as one of the forty selected to attend the first IRENA Youth Forum, part of the tenth IRENA Assembly. “Young people are currently being involved far too little in important decisions.”
One hundred and fifty countries, represented by more than fifteen hundred delegations, are currently meeting in Abu Dhabi for the tenth session of the IRENA Assembly. This International Renewable Energy Agency is an international knowledge center and platform for cooperation that assists countries with their transition to sustainable energy, Heijne explains.
The event includes the first IRENA Youth Forum, which comprises forty young people drawn from thirty-five countries. This group of forty is intended to represent ‘the new generation of decision-makers’, as the forum's slogan reads. “IRENA is keen to use this forum to involve young people in important decisions in the area of sustainable energy. The forum consists of various working groups whose participants will be thinking about solutions in areas such as technological innovation and policy on renewable energy,” says Heijne. The findings of these sessions will be presented to a meeting of the main Assembly.
To this master's student of Sustainable Energy Technology this seemed like “the perfect opportunity to broaden my horizons, and to learn about politics and policy in the area of sustainable energy”. Heijne was chosen following a selection process involving two rounds in which candidates were assessed on, among other things, an essay and a digital interview. Experience with the subject, technical or civic, was an absolute must, says Heijne, as was involvement in projects or initiatives designed to stimulate sustainable energy. His own activities alongside his study include the student team InMotion, which is developing a fully electric race car.
Having a say
Personally, he feels that preventing the consequences of climate change is “one of the greatest challenges facing humanity”. More than any other group, it will be young people who have to deal with these consequences, “so young people should have their say and help come up with ideas for solutions and policy. But young people are currently being involved far too little in important decisions,” believes Heijne.
The IRENA Youth Forum he sees as “a good start, but a long way short of what is needed. To get young people truly involved, more forums like this need to be organized, in order to give young people a platform where they can express their ideas. And besides, in education more attention needs to be paid to climate change. Hopefully young people will start having increasing influence over policy that affects their future.”
Heijne describes it as “fantastic to meet so many young people from every part of the world who have the same passion and ambition as you do” and hopes that in Abu Dhabi he will learn a great deal from experts and world leaders in the area of sustainable energy. These notables include the Minister for Climate Change of the United Arab Emirates and the European Union's Director General for Climate Action.
Big impact
Personally, this master's student hopes he will be able to contribute to the forum, particularly with technical insights on innovations in renewable energy, and that he can bring some concrete actions points back to the Netherlands. “Action points to accelerate the energy transition and create awareness of the critical situation we as humanity are now in. If every representative at the forum does his or her bit back in their own country, together we can have a big impact.”
Meanwhile in Abu Dhabi the schedule has allowed a little time to do some sightseeing, tells Heijne when asked. “A group of us visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the seventh largest mosque in the world. It has the world's largest carpet and the world's biggest chandelier.”
Discussion