2023 BRICS YOUTH ENERGY SUMMIT
The registration form is open till 10 July 2023, 0:00 UTC+0.
This year, South Africa leads the BRICS countries with the just energy transition and energy access being the key policy priorities. All over the Global South, youth are leading meaningful action to ensure a more inclusive and equitable energy transition. To bridge the gap between policy makers and youth experts and make the youth vision and policy recommendations heard and acknowledged, Department of Mineral Resources and Energy of the Republic of South Africa together with the BRICS Youth Energy Agency are hosting the Anniversary 5th BRICS Youth Energy Summit.
The 2023 BRICS YOUTH ENERGY SUMMIT will include:
- Panel sessions and networking cafés with high-level UN, BRICS, and African Union policy makers working on energy transition and climate change negotiations;
- Thematic workshops on energy access and scalable solutions, decarbonization in industrial systems, energy and climate cooperation at multilateral platforms, critical minerals and circular economy, food systems and clean cooking, careers, education and skills for the energy transition, empowering girls and women in STEM;
- Technical site visit to an operating energy facility;
- Presentation of the BRICS Youth Energy Outlook 2023;
- Preparation of a Joint Youth Declaration with concrete policy recommendations and its presentation at the BRICS Energy Ministers’ Meeting;
- Socials and site-seeing in South Africa.
Requirements: 2023 BRICS YOUTH ENERGY SUMMIT
- Age between 18-35;
- Nationals of BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) and countries of the Global South;
- Experienced in such issues as energy transition, climate change mitigation and adaptation, implementation of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal no. 7, decarbonization, resource management.
- Previous engagement with BRICS YEA on its programs & projects is an added value.
How to Generate Your Own Electricity and do away with Eskom in South Africa – a step-by-step guide
Attendance mode:
- Participation will be available both in person and online;
- The number of in-person program’s attendees is limited to 200 delegates due to security and administrative reasons.
- Arrival date is August 2, 2023. Departure date is August 5, 2023. Attendance of all days of the program is compulsory!
- All confirmed delegates have access to the Summit’s program and special festive events;
- Delegates will have an opportunity to attend the technical energy site in the Johannesburg neighborhood. The capacity is limited. The selection of delegates will be arranged upon the time receipt of their expressions of interest.
- Organizers cover a limited quote of delegates (accommodation, flights and transport) on a competitive selection basis.
Bursaries:
- The organizers will distribute 50 bursaries that will cover accommodation, flights, meals and local transfer to and from airport;
- Please indicate if you are willing to compete for a bursary in the Expression of Interest. If you are ready to compete for a bursary while being ready to cover personal expenses on your own, please indicate so in the Expression of Interest.
History of BRICS Youth Energy Summit
In 2015, youth delegates of the first-ever BRICS Youth Summit that took place in two Russian cities, Moscow and Kazan, upheld the joint Action Plan with a decision to create a youth energy association of the five countries. In 2017, the association was transformed into the BRICS Youth Energy Agency.
Commencement
20th November 2015, the BRICS energy cooperation reached the new level with the First Meeting of BRICS Energy Ministers held on the sidelines of the IV International Forum on Energy Efficiency and Energy Development (ENES). This forum has also been indicated as a place where the newly established BRICS Youth Energy Association had to hold the first consultations. On November 25, Forum’s Youth Day welcomed the First Meeting of the BRICS Youth Energy Association that brought together youth from Russia and beyond who was passionate about the initiative. There was a decision that the association had to be an international informal youth association just like BRICS itself.
In 2017, the initiative has got momentum as it was transformed into the BRICS Youth Energy Agency with a youth-led secretariat in Moscow authorized to further expand their regional offices across the five countries without necessary rotation as per the BRICS presidency cycle.
In 2018, BRICS YEA together with MGIMO-University and MPEI held their First BRICS Youth Energy Summit as a side-event to the Russian Energy Week International Forum. The summit became a flagship international event for the youth agency attended by the First Secretaries of the BRICS Embassies in Moscow, a senior academic delegation from the Republic of India as well as delegates from Brazil and China.
In 2019, at the II BRICS Youth Energy Summit, the BRICS Youth presented a complete edition of the BRICS Youth Energy Outlook which became the flagship international youth energy report that reflected key challenges for energy development from the youth point of view. At the Summit, the Secretariat and the National Youth Development Agency of South Africa signed an agreement on the representation of the BRICS YEA in the Republic of South Africa. The Summit was held with support of the Russian Ministry of Energy, the Federal Agency of Youth Affairs of Russia and MGIMO-University.
In 2020, following the XII BRICS Summit, the Heads of Five States supported in their Moscow Declaration the cooperation within the BRICS Youth Energy Agency and the holding of an annual BRICS Youth Energy Summit .
Recognition as a BRICS organization
In 2018, for the first time activities of the BRICS YEA were mentioned at the ministerial level in the Minutes of the Meeting of 3rd BRICS Working Group on Energy Saving and Energy Efficiency where the projects of the BRICS YEA were approved and supported.
In 2019, at their 4th Meeting in Brasilia the BRICS Ministers of Energy said, we “support the further development of youth cooperation in the energy sector and welcome initiatives that contribute to the expansion of contacts and exchanges between young professionals, students and researchers. In this regard, we welcome the BRICS Youth Energy Agency Summit, which took place on October 5, 2019 in Moscow.” (as per their Communiqué).
Following the 5th BRICS Youth Summit in Brasilia, the joint youth declaration stipulated the need to continue “energy cooperation and research efforts within the BRICS framework based on the platform of the BRICS Youth Energy Agency”.
Following the 5th Meeting of BRICS Energy Ministers in Moscow (Russia), youth energy cooperation, and its key elements: the BRICS Youth Energy Outlook and Summit, became a part of the Roadmap for BRICS Energy Cooperation until 2025.
Following the 6th BRICS Youth Summit in Ulyanovsk (Russia), the BRICS YEA was authorized to provide recommendations for climate and energy transition agendas on behalf of the youth community.
The BRICS Youth Energy Cooperation is subject of consultations at meetings of the BRICS Senior Officials Committee on Energy.
Today
Today, the BRICS Youth Energy Agency is one of global flagships in the development of international energy cooperation at youth level focusing on the global trends and challenges.
The Agency has committed partners in the BRICS countries and beyond including countries in the North America, Western Europe and Africa. The multilevel partnerships network consolidates energy-related youth associations small to large as well as global international organizations such as the United Nations, SEforALL and CEM and many others.
In the Russian Federation, where the Secretariat of BRICS YEA is based, the Agency has become a key centre of competence for international youth cooperation on energy and climate issues.
