Lopez-led First Gen Corporation has brought together 62 youth leaders from schools and communities hosting its power plants for the Youth for Climate and Energy Leadership Summit (YCELS), a two-day conference held in Batangas City and Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija.

The summit featured workshops on community visioning, root cause analysis, and project development, enabling participants to design climate solutions tailored to local needs. At the end of the program, the most innovative proposals were awarded P30,000 in seed funding and mentoring support from First Gen and its partners.

Among the top projects were an initiative to repurpose plastic bottles into cleaning tools, a solar-powered vending machine designed to function during outages, and water dispensers aimed at reducing single-use plastic waste in schools.

YCELS forms part of First Gen’s flagship environmental program, “Create for the Climate,” and was supported by experts and resource speakers from partner organizations such as the Oscar M. Lopez Center, Foundation for the Philippine Environment, Climate Change Commission, YGOAL Inc., Abot Tala Community, and Make A Difference Earth.

First Gen vice president Ged Cajucom and hydro operations head Joshua Reyes also participated as speakers.

Participants came from public schools and youth groups including the Youth for Environment in Schools Organization, Supreme Secondary Learner Government, Boy Scouts of the Philippines, Sangguniang Kabataan, and Katipunan ng Kabataan.

First Gen said the summit was part of its continuing effort to empower host communities while advancing climate action at the grassroots level.

What other grassroots initiatives should the energy sector support to strengthen community-led climate action? Share your perspective. 

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