Future leaders set climate agenda with a helping hand from UKAEA

UKAEA CEO Professor Ian Chapman mentored young influencers from across the globe at a forerunner event to the G7 summit, being held in the UK later this month.

The Youth 7 (Y7) is the official youth engagement group for the G7 – the annual gathering of leaders from the seven most advanced economies in the world.

Each year, ahead of the Leaders’ Summit, young people from each of the G7 states propose policy recommendations on behalf of their peers. It represents an opportunity to have their voices heard at the highest level of international decision making.

The theme for the Y7 2021 – held virtually in May by the Future Leaders Network – was “Making Waves for Future Generations”. Read the communique from the event here.

Professor Chapman worked with the Climate and the Environment Delegates on their proposals. The Y7 group put forward nine recommendations to world leaders to ensure societies and ecosystems thrive together. These included strengthening global early warning systems, increasing funding for green, climate-resilient research, and ensuring renewables make up over 75% of the electricity mix by 2030.

Professor Chapman said: “To find answers to the climate crisis, we need young people with the passion, ideas and energy to drive them. I have been so impressed by the Y7 group and the solutions they have come up with.

“As someone involved in developing low-carbon energy through fusion, their recommendations really resonated with me – and I’m sure they will have an impact on the G7 during the UK’s presidency and beyond.”

This year’s G7 Summit will take place from June 11-13 in Carbis Bay, Cornwall.