Opening Ceremony
XXIII Edition
Master SAFE in “Energy Resources Management”

A conversation with Ban Ki-moon & Francesco Starace

24th March 2022 | h. 10 (CET)

Building on the success and continuousness over time, and in line with its mission, SAFE organizes the postgraduate programme in Energy Resources Management with the purpose of educating the next generation of sustainability leaders. The Ceremony, which is the official opening of the XXIII edition of the SAFE post-graduate programme, also aims to be a moment of aggregation with SAFE partners and an opportunity to discuss, with companies and institutions, the most interesting topics of our sector.

This year the Opening Ceremony will virtually host an interactive session moderated by SAFE President Raffaele Chiulli joined by the 8th United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Chief Executive of Enel Group Francesco Starace on the importance of sustainability to overcome the current crisis by addressing global challenges such as climate change, poverty, education and inequality.

In 2015, the United Nations launched its sustainable development agenda, reflecting the growing understanding by Member States that a development model, sustainable for this and future generations, offers the best path forward for tackling climate change, reducing poverty and improving the lives of people everywhere. Among the UN Sustainable Development blueprint, education enables upward socioeconomic mobility and is key to escape poverty and reduce inequalities. Education for sustainability develops the knowledge, skills, values and world-views necessary for people to act in ways that contribute to more sustainable patterns of living by empowering learners to take informed decisions and responsible actions for environmental integrity, economic viability and a just society, for present and future generations, while respecting cultural diversity.

Nowadays, the shock of the Covid-19 pandemic has acted as an extraordinary accelerator of phenomena and trends that were already underway, such as digitization, energy transition, proving that sustainable development and climate action are linked – and both are vital to the present and future well-being of humanity. Building a more sustainable global economy will help reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change. It is, therefore, important that the international community meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals – and also the targets for reducing emissions set in the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015.

To this end, the event aims at discussing the importance of sustainability to address today and future challenges, empowering new generations to make informed decisions and take individual and collective actions to re-shape our societies towards a more sustainable development model.