Now it's time to walk the talk: An overview of NDC ASPECTS & 4i-TRACTION final event
The transition to climate neutrality needs to become a central objective for policymaking globally if the objectives of the Paris Agreement are yet to be met. While the EU is at the forefront of climate policy, the next legislative cycle needs to soon take crucial decisions to move the European Green Deal forward. Seeking to spotlight key issues in the transition to climate neutrality and discuss options to address them, a Policy & Research Dialogue Conference took place on the 9th and 10th of July at the VUB U-residence in Brussels. The conference was organised by the Horizon 2020 research and innovation projects 4i-TRACTION and NDC ASPECTS that have been working over the past three years to generate new insights on climate action challenges in Europe and globally.
The first day of the conference focused on EU policy and started with a keynote by Yvon Slingenberg (DG CLIMA), mentioning the implementation of Fit for 55 as a key priority of the new Commission and the need for policies with an explicit social element such as training 100,000 workers in net zero technologies as part of the Net Zero Industry Act Academy. Benjamin Görlach (Ecologic Institute), the coordinator of 4i-TRACTION project highlighted challenges in EU policy such the lack of integrated climate policy among the sectors (e.g., transport and agriculture) and presented 10 recommendations such as coordinating a fossil fuel phase-out and strengthening integrated infrastructure planning. The latter was also emphasised by François Beaude (ACER) for grid expansion, pointing out that we need a “framework of trust” among Member States to ensure energy system integration.
Moving to the economics of the transition, Clara Calipel (I4C) highlighted the current investment gap of €406bn per year and stressed the need for aligned planning. Miguel Gil Tertre (DG ENER) suggested that private finance would be needed to cover this gap while Suzana Carp (Cleantech for Europe) advocated for a clear Theory of Change for financing the transition. Thomas Pellerin-Carlin (MEP-elect) underlined the need for an EU Investment Framework, similar to the Inflation Reduction Act in the US, that could provide the predictability needed to mobilize investment.
The second day of the conference looked at the global context, starting with new messages for hard to abate sectors, such as for the steel industry, freight and logistics, buildings, and AFOLU (more details on the NDC ASPECTS website and policy briefs). This was followed by a discussion on priorities and enablers for the transformation of major emitters. Teng Fei (Tsinghua University) highlighted the low cost of capital and electricity price as enablers of China’s transition, while Alicia Zhao (University of Maryland) emphasised the role of state policies to advance climate action in the USA. Saritha Sudharmma Vishwanathan (Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad) suggested that India needs to decrease oil imports and find innovative financial mechanisms, while both Gelang Dewi (Bandung Institute of Technology) and Bryce McCall (University of Cape Town) highlighted the need to decarbonise the power sector and expand the grid in Indonesia and South Africa.
Moving on to the impacts of global mitigation, Dirk-Jan van de Ven (BC3) and Panagiotis Fragkos (E3-Modelling) looked at the implications of global mitigation strategies while Kimon Keramidas (JRC) discussed the need to accelerate sectoral clean tech investments. The conference concluded with a discussion on international cooperation, where Lukas Hermwille (Wuppertal Institute) discussed the impacts of industrial policy nationalism, Catherine Hall (University of Eastern Finland) analysed the role of climate clubs, and Harro van Asselt (Cambridge University) highlighted the significance of international cooperation in limiting fossil fuel supply.
Overall, the conference provided many avenues for action to be considered during the implementation of Fit for 55 in the EU as well as in the long-term strategies and immediate policies of major emitters worldwide. The agenda of the conference and copies of the slides can be found here.