Young Expert Groups.

Focuses of Our Expertise.

Lastly updated: 16 January 2024

Young Expert Groups.

Focuses of Our Expertise.

Lastly updated: 16 January 2024

About Expert Groups

The BRICS Youth Energy Agency brings together young experts on various aspects of energy. Through young expert groups (YEGs), BRICS YEA sets hypotheses, conducts consultations and delivers policy together with young experts from the agency’s network. Expert groups hold regular meetings, invite well-known topic holders, and develop knowledge products and reports. Since 2024, outcomes of the YEGs are reflected in the BRICS Youth Energy Outlook. YEGs invite partners from specialized scientific and research centers and businesses.

The YEG members are young experts – representatives of universities, businesses, academic and research centers, as well as governments. The YEG activities are held by a chief expert from among the group members along with a secretary, the both appointed by BRICS YEA. All partner organizations of the agency can nominate a representative to the YEGs on competitive basis. Administrative and technical support is provided by the Secretariat.

Members of the BRICS YEA community can access all reports, policy documents, presentations on the agency’s exclusive platform: my.bricsyea. YEGs are being established according to the relevant agenda of the BRICS Youth Energy Outlook. Mandate of the YEGs may be extended.

Young Expert Groups

Just and Sustainable Energy Transition (JSET)

Chief Expert

Secretary

Abdurahman bin Jumah
King Saud University

Anastasia Shirokograd
Russian Energy Agency

A just energy transition is a social aspect of the evolution of global energy. The accelerated decommissioning of carbon intensive power generation facilities, as well as adaption of the Global North strategies in the Global South has an ambiguous effect on the well-being of the population and creates social tension. At the same time, the understanding of the term differs significantly in industrially advanced and developing countries.

In the countries of the Global North, the term primarily encompasses the issues of gender balance in the energy sector, the financial responsibility of carbon intensive companies for implementing measures to adapt or mitigate the adverse effects of climate change. It also uses a focus of the strategies to the needs and demands of the younger generation, who advocate for an urgent transition to green energy. In the countries of the Global South, the emphasis has shifted to the well-being of the population, who demand a step-by-step transition to low-carbon or zero-carbon energy focusing on the challenges of personnel training, unlocking women’s potential in the labor market and fighting youth unemployment. At the same time, the concept of “sustainable energy” balances the two approaches introducing its own palette associated with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and specifically Goal 7.

This JSET working group provides expert analysis, policy recommendations and practical solutions to promote a just energy transition based on the vision of the BRICS countries. The main goal is to contribute youth to the global discourse on a just energy transition, determine the most relevant strategy for the countries of the group, and accumulate best practices.

Young Expert Groups

Resource Management and Critical Minerals for Energy Transition (RMCM)

Chief Expert

Secretary

Janaina Fonseca Nolasco
Ministry of Mines and
Energy of Brazil

Anna Loginova
Russian Energy Agency

Sustainable resource management is the total of policies, strategies, and regulations required for the responsible utilization of natural resources. It is based on environmental-socio-economic viability and technical feasibility, which determine what, when and how natural resources are developed, produced, consumed, reused and recycled by society. In particular, minerals are essential components in many of today’s rapidly growing clean energy technologies – from wind turbines and electricity networks to electric vehicles. The global clean energy transition will have far-reaching consequences for mineral demand over the next 20 years. In 2040, the world is expected to need four times as many critical minerals for clean energy technologies as it does today. 

While solar PV plants and wind farms do not require fuels to operate, they generally require more materials than fossil fuel-based counterparts for construction. Since 2010, the average amount of minerals needed for a new unit of power generation capacity has increased by 50% as renewables increase their share of total capacity additions. Thus, the transition to clean energy means a shift from a fuel-intensive to a material-intensive system, which also includes multiple negative implications for the environment and biodiversity through terrestrial and deep-sea mining, as well as disposal.

The RMCM working group aims to provide expert analysis, science-driven insights, policy recommendations, and practical solutions to minimizing the negative impact of critical minerals sourcing and use across the whole clean energy value chain. Its overarching goal is to contribute to shaping a more sustainable and equitable approach to mineral resource management where energy transition does not exacerbate today’s environmental issues.

Young Expert Groups

Sustainable Food Systems (SFS)

Chief Expert

Secretary

Athira Aji
FAO

Regina Chukova
UNA-Russia

A sustainable food system is a food system that delivers food security and nutrition for all in such a way that the economic, social and environmental bases to generate food security and nutrition for future generations are not compromised. The system encompasses everything from the processing, packaging and the transporting of food to consumers. Currently, these systems are not efficient or sustainable, and in 2022, about 9.2% of the world population was facing chronic hunger, equivalent to about 735 million people – 122 million more than in 2019. In addition, these unsustainable practices are one of the main contributors to the climate crisis – they account for a third of greenhouse gas emissions and 70% of the usage of the world’s freshwater.

In today’s contemporary civilization, about 30% of all energy consumption is used for maintaining the global food system, including harvesting, cooling, transportation, storage, and preparation. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, approximately one-third of the food produced (about 1.3 billion tons) is lost annually at the postharvest stage, and one of the major reasons for that being lack of access to energy for cooling and inadequate storing conditions. In addition, 2.8 billion people are still using traditional carbon-intensive fuels for cooking, which constitutes a great challenge to ensuring a universal access to clean cooking and reducing the number of deaths associated with unhealthy diets.

The SFS working group aims to provide analytics and develop solutions to some of the key food systems challenges through embedding clean energy into agrifood policy. Its overarching goal is to facilitate the transition towards sustainable food systems through a wholistic water-energy-food approach.

Young Expert Groups

Climate Change (CC)

Chief Expert

Secretary

Mpendulo Dlamini
Department of Forestry, Fisheries
and the Environment, RSA

Milana Gomeniuk
Moscow State University

The existing energy system is a significant contributor to climate change, responsible for around 75% of total greenhouse gas emissions, which emphasizes the urgent need for a transformative shift in energy generation and consumption. Achieving global climate goals hinges on the energy sector achieving net-zero emissions by mid-century. With rising temperatures setting records year after year, the imperative for decisive action that aligns with the targets of the Paris Agreement has never been more evident.

One of the promising areas in combating climate change is growth of certain clean energy technologies, such as electric cars, solar PV, batteries, and heat pumps, and a focus on energy effectiveness as a critical factor. Innovations provide hope for constraining the rise in the global average temperature to 1,5-2°C above pre-industrial levels, a crucial threshold to mitigate the severe impacts of climate change.

In alignment with the BRICS YEA’s emphasis on international cooperation, the CCE working group aims at providing expert analysis, science-driven insights, policy recommendations, and practical solutions, as well as the opportunities for collaboration with government leaders, the private sector, businesses and civil society, seeking to contributing significantly to the global efforts against climate change. Its overarching goal is to shape a more secure, sustainable, and equitable energy future, reflecting the urgency and gravity of the challenges posed by the effects of climate change.

Young Expert Groups

Green Jobs and Skills for Energy Transition (GJSET)

Chief Expert

Secretary

Olga Mmelesi
University of South Africa

Ali Hani Alnajim
ResearchMate

Путь к более устойчивому будущему состоит в умении правильно реагировать на глобальные вызовы, в том числе в энергетическом секторе. По данным Международной организации труда, к 2030 году в мире может быть создано около 24 миллионов новых рабочих мест, связанных с внедрением «зеленых» практик для сотрудников. Вместе с тем, многие специалисты уже сейчас чувствуют себя отстающими от нынешних темпов прогресса и считают, что столкнутся с проблемами по поиску работы в будущем. «Зеленые» профессии охватывают практически все отрасли промышленности и проявляются в самых разных формах. Для сохранения конкурентоспособности на рынке труда нового поколения с трендом на междисциплинарность специалистам необходимо развивать эко-навыки и постоянно повышать свою экспертность в области устойчивого развития. В противном случае, «уязвимыми» окажутся не только сотрудники, потерявшие свои рабочие места, но и мировая экономика в целом.

Данная рабочая группа призвана осветить глобальные вызовы, которые имеют место ввиду стремительной трансформации запросов современных работодателей, все больше ориентированных на эко-практики. Молодые эксперты проанализируют текущую ситуацию и тенденции, а также предложат решения по обеспечению наиболее быстрой и эффективной адаптации специалистов к новым реалиям международного рынка труда.

Young Expert Groups

International Partnerships and Policy Advocacy (IPPA)

Chief Expert

Secretary

Hoor Ali Ahli
New York University
Abu Dhabi

TBA
Position

The IPPA Working Group is dedicated to forging strategic collaborations with like-minded multilateral, regional, and national organizations, including various youth groups, networks and think tanks. The primary objective is to map the potential for mutually beneficial relationships, fostering cooperation on matters of energy transition, climate change, critical minerals, nuclear sector, food systems, green jobs and related spheres.
A key focus is to identify potential partners at various levels, ranging from the local to the global scale, with the potential to enhance the impact of BRICS youth initiatives and research, and explore opportunities that facilitate the translation of BRICS youth research findings into tangible policy outcomes. This involves active engagement in advocacy efforts on relevant international platforms, first and foremost within the United Nations, with an emphasis on youth-driven initiatives to shape policy discussions and contribute to the development of impactful solutions in the realm of energy and climate.
In essence, the IPPA Working Group seeks to create a dynamic bridge between the BRICS YEA and diverse partner organizations, both withing the UN, at the regional and global level, utilizing strategic cooperating and effective policy advocacy to advance the collective goals of sustainable and equitable energy solutions on both national and international fora.

Young Expert Groups

Nuclear Energy and Technologies (NET)

Chief Expert

Secretary

Soumojit Mukherjee
NURU MEPhI

Milana Ozerina
IAEA

In a world where the race is on to reach net zero and find cleaner sources of energy, nuclear energy positions itself as one of the safest, cleanest and efficient methods of providing electricity to the planet. The global demand for such an energy source is high, with recent developments in COP28 signalling a shift towards nuclear energy. 

At the same time as climate change ravages the Earth’s ecosystem, adversely affecting agriculture, food security and even human health, nuclear technologies in the areas of agriculture and medicine provide innovative and low-cost solutions to protect harvests, grow resilient crops and treat major diseases such as cancer. 

In alignment with the BRICS YEA’s emphasis on international cooperation, the NET working group aims at providing expert analysis, science-driven insights, policy recommendations, and practical solutions, as well as the opportunities for collaboration with government leaders, the private sector, businesses and civil society, seeking to contributing significantly to the global efforts against the energy challenge of climate change, as well as in nuclear technology solutions for medicine and agriculture. Its overarching goal is to shape a world with cleaner energy, healthier people with abundant food safety, reflecting the urgency and gravity of the challenges posed by the effects of climate change.

Young Expert Groups

Business in Energy Sector

Chief Expert

Secretary

Yomna El-Awamri
The Carbon Impact Lab

Sonam Maheshwari
MESO CONSTRUCTIVIST LLP