Now is the time for action

All across Europe, pupils are taking action for the climate. In the Netherlands, too, young people are making their voices heard. One of them works at RWE, his name is Wouter van der Galiën (28). Every single thing he does and thinks has a link to energy transition. "This is the biggest challenge of my generation. It is my personal mission to contribute to it as much as I can. And this promise does not stop at just words."

Footprint

Wouter lives in a 'green bubble', he says. However, that bubble is slowly but surely turning into an oil slick. "When I travel, I take the bus or train as much as possible. I eat less meat and don't buy as many clothes. For me, I want to keep my footprint as small as possible." As Project Developer Wind at RWE, Wouter also contributes to a climate-neutral society through his work. "By developing wind farms together with the local population, I can really make my goals come true. I also made a very conscious choice to work at RWE. Here, wind energy is the core business.

Regional energy strategy

Wouter is also able to make a real difference as a youth representative for the Regional Energy Strategy (RES). The Netherlands is divided into 30 regions, with municipalities and provinces, which all draw up their own regional energy strategy. With this, each region demonstrates how it is contributing to the energy transition. "I signed up two years ago, based on my own personal motivation. I just felt I had to do something. By now, all regions have one or more youth representatives. In total, there are 50 young people who help to shape the new plans. We sit around the table with the decision-makers and give our unvarnished, challenging opinions. We have no political colour, but we do have an important message. The policymakers are often in their fifties or sixties and have a very different vision of the future than we do. But we will soon have to deal with what is being developed now."

Short-term thinking

A good example is the open landscape: the idea that wind turbines in the landscape are landscape pollution. "Young people don't usually live in houses with a beautiful panoramic view. So a wind turbine in the landscape is not an issue for us. I do understand that people who have an open vista do not like it. But that is short-term thinking. It is not about now, but about later. The energy transition must accelerate, otherwise there will soon be no more open landscape to preserve. I cannot say it often enough, but we are really very concerned. That is the message we are trying to convey.

More is better

In his role as youth representative RES, Wouter tries to reach as many other young people as possible. "This way I can enthuse people for the profession so that they can also do something to accelerate the energy transition. I studied business administration, so in principle I can use that in any company. But now is the time to take action for the greatest cause that mankind has to face." Together, the youth representatives have achieved that in every region there is a youth representative present at the negotiating table. "It's a nice start." But for Wouter, it's not nearly enough.