EUROPE’S CLIMATE AND ENERGY OUTLOOK - Now that the ink on COP21 is dry, Brussel

Atomium in Brussel
© Kevin Bergenhenegouwen
datum 20 oktober 2016
plaats Brussel, België
aanwezigen S. (Štefan) Füle i, (Theresa) Griffin i e.a.
organisatie Friends of Europe

Friends of Europe’s annual Climate and Energy Policy Summit will discuss this year the main challenges ahead for global leaders in view of implementing the COP21 Paris Agreement and ensuring affordable and secure energy in the context of rapidly changing energy geopolitics. Key questions will include:

  • With four years to go until the Paris agreement enters into force, what are the chief risks and challenges?
  • How can new technologies blur the traditional boundaries of the energy sector and alter citizens’ interactions with energy?
  • What is the silver bullet to boost energy security: energy efficiency, low-carbon technologies, storage, new networks and interconnections, decentralised energy, capacity mechanisms, or others?

Podcast

Session I

Session II

Session III

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Programme

08.30 - 09.00 Welcome coffee and registration of participants

09.00 - 10.30 SESSION I - Paris agreement a year on: Turning wish-lists into practical policies

The COP21 Paris Agreement marked a long-awaited turning point for global cooperation on climate change. Yet how the burden will be shared between countries and how they will reassess their climate and energy policies is uncertain. Despite the political momentum, weakening global economy and low fossil fuel prices risk discouraging governments from delivering on their commitments and investing more in clean energy. Europe’s climate action is facing an EU ETS carbon price now at 20-month low, the introduction of the market stability reserve is threatened by Polish legal actions and EU member states are still divided over the need to review the 2030 climate pledges.

  • With four years to go until the Paris agreement enters into force, what are the chief risks and challenges?
  • What are the implications of the Paris outcome for the public and private sectors investment and planning?
  • What is the most cost-efficient way to reduce global emissions while preserving competitiveness and a level playing field in trade? What is the outlook for a global and economy-wide carbon price?
  • What can be done to overcome the deadlocks in the EU ETS reform and eventually restore the effective price signal?
  • What post-2020 policies and measures are needed to decarbonise sectors not covered by the EU ETS?

Speakers

Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, Chief executive officer at Solvay

Norbert Kurilla, State secretary at the Slovak Ministry of environment

Gérard Mestrallet, Chairman of the board of directors of ENGIE ; co-author of the “Aligning carbon pricing with the Paris Agreement” report

Geneviève Pons-Deladrière, Director of the World Wide Fund for nature (WWF) European Policy Office

Dominique Ristori, European Commission director general for Energy

Moderated by

Dharmendra Kanani, Director of strategy at Friends of Europe

10.30 - 11.00 Coffee break

11.00 - 12.00 SESSION II - The era of disruptive technologies and behaviours: Reconciling consumers interests with industry needs

New technologies and behaviours are shaking up the global energy status quo, disrupting traditional business models, transforming the ways energy is produced, distributed and consumed, and altering citizens’ interactions with energy. Renewables self-generation, cleantech crowdfunding, digitalisation, in-home energy storage, smart meters and grids, low-carbon mobility not only promise to increase productivity and cut CO2 emissions, but are also expected to reduce energy bills, create jobs, reduce countries’ reliance on fuel imports and optimise energy supply. The quickening pace of energy innovation is such that many technologies are commercially viable faster than predicted, yet markets still struggle to catch up and to reap the benefits this ‘new normal’ promises.

  • What shifts in business models will succeed in this disruptive environment, and can all sectors benefit from these transformations?
  • How can new technologies transform the oil and gas industry sectors, and can they blur the traditional boundaries of the energy sector in a cost-efficient way for consumers, businesses and society?
  • How should markets be redesigned to adapt to technological advances, low-carbon imperatives, and pressure from customers in a way that safeguards the EU’s competitiveness and growth?
  • What should the EU energy research, innovation and competitiveness strategy look like for Europe to be the world’s leader?
  • Where will the funding for smart technologies and infrastructure come from and how can technologies be made accessible to a wider public?

Speakers

Edward Calthrop, Deputy head of division at the renewable energy projects directorate of the European Investment Bank (EIB)

John Cooper, Director general at FuelsEurope

Ruxandra Draghia-Akli, European Commission deputy director general for research and innovation

Lucy Symons, Director of Public Policy at Open Energi

Moderated by

Siobhan Hall, Senior Editor for EU Energy Policy at Platts

12.00 - 12.30 Coffee break

12.30 - 13.30 SESSION III - Securing Europe’s energy supplies: Long-term solidarity versus short-term self-interest

Making energy supply reliable is among the main pillars of the EU’s Energy Union. With this in mind, the European Commission proposes new measures to improve states’ cooperation, develop new infrastructure projects, and strengthen its role in international gas buying agreements. Yet the EU continues to rely heavily on only a few suppliers, pays high import costs, and lacks adequate investments and interconnections. “National interests” prevail when deciding on energy-mix choices, protecting industrial competitiveness and negotiating international deals. The 28 national electricity markets are still fragmented, with aging infrastructure that is unsuitable for a low-carbon transition.

  • What is the silver bullet to boost energy security: energy efficiency, low-carbon technologies, storage, new networks and interconnections, decentralised energy, capacity mechanisms, or others?
  • Which projects of common interest make economic sense, and which are strategically crucial? How can the much-needed South East Europe’s energy security infrastructure be financed?
  • Could falling global energy prices and the emergence of alternative producers and supply routes be transformative?
  • The scaling-up of renewable energy and the integration of renewable power into the electricity market are crucial, but what barriers still stand in the way?
  • And what are the prospects for renewables playing a greater role in heating and cooling?

Speakers

Andreas Goldthau, Professor at Royal Holloway University of London; associate, geopolitics of energy project at Harvard University’s Belfer center for science and international affairs; fellow at King’s College Russia institute

Theresa Griffin MEP, Member of the European Parliament committee on industry, research and energy; rapporteur on “Delivering a new deal for energy consumers”

Ingrid Holmes, Director at Third Generation Environmentalism (E3G)

Bruno Lescoeur, Special advisor to the chairman & chief executive officer of EDF

Paul Simons, Deputy executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA)

Moderated by

Siobhan Hall, Senior editor for EU energy policy at Platts

13.30 End of the summit

Speakers

  • Norbert Kurilla

    State secretary at the Slovak Ministry of environment

  • Theresa Griffin

    Member of the European Parliament committee on industry, research and energy; rapporteur on “Delivering a new deal for energy consumers”

  • Andreas Goldthau

    Professor at Royal Holloway University of London; associate, geopolitics of energy project at Harvard University's Belfer center for science and international affairs; fellow at King’s College Russia institute

  • Bruno Lescoeur

    Special advisor to the chairman & chief executive officer of EDF

  • Paul Simons

    Deputy executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA)

  • Siobhan Hall

    Senior Editor for EU Energy Policy at Platts

  • Gérard Mestrallet

    Chairman of the board of directors of ENGIE ; co-author of the “Aligning carbon pricing with the Paris Agreement” report

  • Ingrid Holmes

    Director at Third Generation Environmentalism (E3G)

  • Edward Calthrop

    Deputy head of division at the renewable energy projects directorate of the European Investment Bank (EIB)

  • Lucy Symons

    Director of public policy at Open Energi

  • Stefan Füle

    Special Envoy for the OSCE and Western Balkans at the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs; European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy (2010-2014) and Trustee of Friends of Europe

    As a Czech diplomat who started his professional career at the Czechoslovakian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Stefan Füle has since then held many important positions at the Ministry, Czech embassies abroad as well as within international organizations such as UN and NATO. Füle served as the European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy from 2010 to 2014, where he placed high importance on consolidating peace, democracy and prosperity in Europe on the Commission’s agenda.

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