Young energy leader calls for mindset shift to secure greener future

Speaking on the energy systems of tomorrow, Csinszka Bene, Policy Advisor and Manager for the East meets West Young Professionals Network, called for utilities and businesses to embrace diversity and adopt a mindset shift in how they approach the next generation of energy leaders.

“I’d like to dive into a reality check and skip the small talk,” said the Future Energy Leader at Enlit Europe in Paris.

“(What) climate scientists are describing right now is a global civilization collapse in the lifetime of some young and middle-aged people today.

Bene called for more understanding in the energy sector on the "profound generational disparities in how we perceive this. I am representing a generation that is intimately acquainted with the urgency of action – we are those people who battle with climate anxiety every day…

“I want to say it very loudly: this sector cannot overlook social justice. It cannot overlook the perspectives of young people or of women…Diversity is not a token gesture; it’s a catalyst for innovation and it’s also the key to companies’ success in the future.”

The time to change was yesterday

Referencing that, a week prior, global energy warming breached a new warning level, Bene stressed that the time for this shift has already come.

“For the first time, the world temporarily breached 2°C for global energy warming above pre-industrial levels. This is only for the first time, but it is very scary that we are closing (near) thresholds that we once thought to be distant.

“Mindset shift: we need it yesterday. Applying a climate change lens to everything we do is not a survival tactic, it’s the biggest opportunity for competitiveness and for gaining a competitive edge in this century.

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Bene added how an acknowledgement is also needed that, regardless of their contributions, fossil fuels are "the biggest threat to peace, security, our livelihoods and democracy. Rewarding polluting activities and adhering to outdated principles (…) is not going to lead us anywhere - We simply need to find new ways.

“We need to somehow grasp and intertwine a lot of things like scientific urgency, generational perspectives in the energy transition as well as a plea for a much-needed shift in humanity…”

Attract, retain, reward

According to Bene, the diversity that accompanies this shift must be a priority for companies and businesses, who need “to attract, retain and reward these young people because they are the key to your company’s success and frankly to the future of humanity.”

Bene added that the key to attracting this next generation will be embracing this mindset shift, applying the climate change lens to activities, embracing diversity and the concept of the moral economy, which views economic activities through a moral, not just a material, lens.

Said Bene: “…we want to live in moral economies where it is easier to do good and we need to see commitment to impact every single step of the way. That’s how it’s done.

“I want us to stay curious towards each other. I want us to understand there is no invisible hand that’s going to create a low carbon and healthy society – it is us who builds those norms and institutions…and it’s also us that absorb it, in our culture and around us.”

“We need to think in integrated systems and we need to change how these systems interact with each other. We need to recognise the human capacity that is at those intersections and who harmonise those intersections and very often it is young people who dedicate their whole career to doing this.

“The tools we need are there. We’ve got the carrots, we’ve got the sticks, we’ve got regulation, taxation, subsidies … Now, we need to collaborate. It’s the only way – it will be costly and difficult but it’s the road that we need to walk.”