Brussels, April 12th-13th 2018
European policy specialists, industry leaders and academic experts convened in Brussels on April 12-13 to discuss energy and climate change policy in a regional workshop held by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program (HEEP) and Enel Foundation. This is the latest milestone of the ongoing cooperation between the two organizations to advance understanding of important challenges in energy, environmental, and natural resource policies.
The Brussels meeting was focused on Policy overlap, aiming to highlight how policies on coal phase-out, renewables and energy efficiency affect the Emission Trading Schemes (ETS) and how can the latter be preserved as a meaningful instrument.
Professor Robert Stavins, HEEP Director, led the event, along with Giuseppe Montesano, Enel Foundation Deputy Director, and Simone Mori, Enel Foundation Scientific Committee member and Head of European Affairs for Enel Group.
Stavins, A.J. Meyer Professor of Energy and Economic Development at the JFK School of Government in Harvard University, delivered a presentation on “Complementary Policies to Reduce GHG Emissions” where he discussed opportunities and challenges associated with the power sector in a carbon-constrained world. Prof. Stavins highlighted the importance of analyzing overlapping policies that address greenhouse-gas emissions and energy production and use in order to identify policies that may affect the same regulated entity or end user in a complementary manner or in a manner that undermines effectiveness.
Professor Stavins noted of the ongoing collaboration:
Over the years, HEEP and Enel Foundation have engaged more than 130 high level subject matter experts coming from more than 30 countries in discussing sustainable energy transition policies. This roundtable, organized at a critical moment for the decarbonization of the world and efforts to implement the Paris Agreement, is one important step in addressing climate change and the associated energy transition – especially in Europe.
Participants to the workshop included key stakeholders of the global clean energy arena, focused on low-carbon energy trends, on cooperation in regulatory and market policies, and on the impact of the Paris Agreement on Europe’s energy scenario and beyond.
The previous workshop organized by HEEP and Enel Foundation was held in 2017, in Santiago del Chile, with relevant regional alumni, focusing on Latin American energy issues and opportunities.