Resources
It was impossible to imagine a year ago. It’s hard to believe today, but the world might well move on the post-Paris Climate Agreement without Europe!
For once, the European Commission cannot be blamed for this “ridiculous” situation as President Juncker described the slow ratification by the EU of the climate deal. It could even be the opposite: we may well have to applaud the European Commission if its proposed fast-track ratification succeeds in giving EU leaders a seat at the table of the post-Paris climate decisions.
“BRINGING THE BUILDINGS SECTOR TOGETHER TO DELIVER A RENOVATION REVOLUTION”
In April, countries around the world signed the historic Paris Agreement reached at COP 21. Europe must now raise its ambition, and one of the greatest environmental and societal challenges we collectively face is the renovation of Europe’s buildings.
Delivering the ambitious climate change targets of the Paris Agreement can only be achieved through the effective combination of energy efficiency and renewable energy. Together, they offer the best opportunity to quickly and cost-effectively move towards a decarbonised energy system. It is important that both are delivered through integrated policies and measures in a holistic manner.
Maison de la Culture du Japon (Paris)
I can’t speak for you, but in my case, the Brexit had for me the opposite effect of the fall of the Berlin wall. I was in high school in 1989, but it was clear to me that the reunification of Germany would lead to a more peaceful and prosperous Europe. In the case of the Brexit, it’s difficult to see what positive outcomes might unfold, especially given that the Brexit implications didn’t seem to have been thought out by its own leaders.
Workshop on using twitter for the sustainable energy transition for active twitter users that are oriented towards Brussels. The workshop was co-organised by Leonardo Energy, Copper Alliance and Vattel
CEN-CENELEC meeting centre (Bruxelles)
Executive summary in national languages
The report estimates the EU energy renovation market at EUR 109 billion in 2015 and 882,900 jobs. It shows that the size of the EU energy renovation market could increase by almost half the current energy renovation market if a 40% energy savings target is adopted for 2030. This would lead to more than one million additional jobs.
Energy efficiency is nitty-gritty. It’s down to earth, it’s technical. Long story short, it’s the polar opposite of sexy.
On my way back to Paris, I had to go through one of the most heavily guarded airports in the world. Unfortunately for last Thursday’s passengers, the scanner wasn’t very cooperative, and we ended up going through it again and again – without any shoes, belt, jackets or any potentially harmful garment of the sort of course. Once partially cleared by the defective scanner, we were all offered a complimentary and thorough body search before finally boarding our flight.
In these dark and uncertain economic times, we Europeans hang on to the tiniest sliver of hope. So when a silver lining appears on the energy efficiency front, let’s rejoice:
I may be an engineer by training, but I’m still tolerant. So tolerant in fact, that I can go so far as to willingly enter a room full of economists. That’s precisely where I was last month, enjoying some excellent presentations by distinguished economists on the macro-economic benefits of energy efficiency.
