 Thank you all very much. You're very welcome. My name is Alex White. I'm Director General here at the Institute and I'd like to welcome You all this afternoon, whatever you're expecting or we're expecting. I'm not sure if included walking on to a movie set but you've had that pleasure and We're surrounded by that outside, but I don't think it will affect our deliberations and So our sessions this afternoon maintaining competitiveness while advancing the net zero transition Is that's the agenda and my role is really just to do what I've effectively already done which is to welcome you here and tell you who I am and to introduce our Chair of the session before I do that. I just like to recognize the presence of Barbara Nolan and The representative the EU Commission here in Dublin and thank her for all of her support and continuing Cooperation with us here at the Institute, which is really invaluable to us and I would just Identify our two distinguished speakers Matthew Baldwin and Jacob Berksman I won't say too much about them because our distinguished chair will do that and our chair is Professor Lisa Ryan and Professor in energy economics and at UCD well known to us here at the Institute as a member of our climate and energy group and A great supporter and participant in many of our activities So I'm really looking forward to this session as my pleasure to hand the floor to Lisa Ryan. Thank you very much. Thank you very much Alex and Thank you all for coming here today. I think that's a great turnout We haven't had so many in-person events I think well I certainly haven't been attending so many in-person events and I'm delighted to be with distinguished speakers I think it speaks for the speakers that so many have come today So we are delighted that Matthew Baldwin and Jacob Berksman have Are going to speak to us today So Matthew is the Deputy Director General at DGNR Which is the European Commission's energy department for those not familiar and then Jacob is the principal advisor to the DG for climate action and so both of these are here in town as part of the European Commission's Roadshow and are going to speak to us about European energy policy, but also really in the content the low-carbon transition the context of Competiveness, and I'm very interested in this topic. I had signed up to come even before I was made the chair Because I do think it's an important topic I teach this topic to students and I'm constantly I'm showing them the three pillars And I think it's something that if we want to have a future low-carbon In in Europe then we need to be able to convince our citizens and businesses that this is going to be not just not at the expense of Competiveness, but actually that's going to make us more competitive in the future So I think this is a key topic for us to hear what your thoughts on it and what the European Commission is thinking about going forward with it so the So the structure here is that each of you will speak for ten minutes And then we will open for a Q&A and I should say that this is going to be is recorded now So we're all here in person. It's not a hybrid live streaming event But the opening remarks are recorded and then we're going to have Q&A, but which will not be recorded and that will be Chatham house rules so I look forward to wild and Interesting discussions when you're since you're not going to be recorded at that Okay, so Feel free feel free so Let's begin and I'm going to formally introduce Matthew first who's going to be our first speaker So Matthew Baldwin was appointed as deputy director as I said before in DGNR and since 2000 Sorry in 2022 and where he is responsible for the energy platform task force He has served in the European Commission for over 20 years where he's previously Deputy Director General in DGMove for six years running the Commission's Horizon Europe mission for 100 climate neutral and smart cities by 2030 and also served And how smart are we I wonder And also served as the EU coordinator for road safety and sustainable urban mobility He was also director for aviation in DGMove and director for market access in DG trade So maybe I'll invite you to speak now and then I'll introduce Jacob Even though I'm being recorded now Therefore I had a very boring I think I think both Jake and I would very much like this to be in the spirit of a round table even If we are not around a table And and a sort of free and frank exchange of views really from the outset That's one of the sort of cliches here in terms of the name The other is in terms of a road show which conveys a sort of set and sweaty glamour as we Go around Europe at breakneck speed explaining ourselves, but this is to be slightly more prosaic This is one of a series of Visits or not just Jake and I but all the senior management the costs our two departments will be making And I'll try to explain a bit what the purpose of that is and and I will come to competitiveness But before I do thank you very much for your introduction Lisa Thank you Alex for have and thank you Barbara for being such a great representative for us and looking after us so well today I mean where this all stems from to pull back and we have got some very specific things is The transitional nature of the moment of course green transition energy transition, but political transition this year And it's a very important moment to take the climate Another misuse of the word about where Europe's going where different member states are going and the difficult Difficult and important choices we face on the climate and energy policies Jake's from the climate department. I'm from the energy department. We talk a lot. We work together But there are some interesting and important distinctions in terms of we do With the European Green Deal where we are absolutely and at one United We set the path towards climate neutrality and resilience by 2050 This means the right policy in place at the European level and at the national level Specifically we have a very we believe a very useful tool Called the national energy and climate plans, which are 10 year plans Which outline how each member state in considerable detail intends to meet the energy and climates for 2030 the Fit for 55 targets headlined in 55% emissions reduction caused by 20 by 2030 We're now in an active round of the NECP is being updated We received updated NECPs from 26 member states including Ireland I'm glad to say I thought I was gonna say and the 27th is Ireland, but no, you're one of them we published our assessment of the EU wide assessment on the draft updated NECPs last year and we've now also published Individual assessment and country specific recommendations for I think now 24 of the Plans that we've received again including Ireland relatively recent recently The good news is I think that member states are taking this exercise very seriously And I think they too tend to share our view that it's a useful tool and a comparable peer-to-peer tool that they all have To measure progress and to compare plans the slightly less good news is that the draft plans are clearly not yet sufficient to meet our EU climate targets and Member states now have until the 30th of June to try to incorporate Some of the recommendations that we've made and then to submit those final plans to give you an idea of the numbers If you look at it in terms of the 55% Emissions reduction target, we are currently at about 51% By 2030 so that's a quite a significant shortfall if you want to look at it in terms of in terms of an effort sharing reduction under the effort sharing regulation we are at 34% Robin to check I've got these numbers right 34% against an overall effort of 40 and Ireland is also Not quite there yet in terms of its effort sharing. It's at 42% against 48 Wrong, that's a 42% reduction By 2030 based on the 20 2005 numbers So rather than just send sort of bureaucratic missives out from Brussels to different parts of the EU We thought it'd be good to come and explain and try to explain a bit more detail where the concerns are the course There's been a lot of back-and-forth We've been delighted to be received today by Minister Ayman Ryan and colleagues from the climate and energy ministry This today for also is going to be a listing exercise for us as much as the talking exercise I hope to hear your views on where things Are going and and in particular we want to deepen this dialogue with national policy makers and Extend the conversation as far as possible to include all stakeholders and and really interested citizens We are very conscious in in all of this that we need to take account of different national circumstances It would be a completely pointless exercise to try to say one size necessarily must must fit all And and in that context how that combination of national and European policies protects people's welfare and well-being the competitiveness of companies Farmers societies socioeconomic cohesion and every country will be different. That's why this is so important And it also comes against a backdrop In which we have set out plans And we've called for a debate on a 2040 emissions reduction So again, we got a 55 percent by 2030. We've got our net zero by 2050 and in between the Commission recommends that we adopt a target for 2040 which we are we've put at 90 percent. So we need to get 90 percent of the way to net zero by 2040 that shouldn't come as too shocking an exercise We were discussing Jake earlier that if you draw a line from 2030 through to net zero by 2050 You you're at about 88. We're recommending going a bit further a bit faster by 2040 And again, it's just a recommendation for the consideration of the course of this coming period To precisely to try to provide that investment certainty that Clear a frame of action. So we put out two terrible Brussels speak Communications with the capital C setting out why we think we need to do this Why we think this is the crucial in terms of meeting our Paris Agreement targets keeping in goal the 1.5 percent So 1.5 degrees into the Celsius objective And again providing that continuity and predictability in terms of all the different not just investment loss of policy decisions Probably can private people need to be met It responds very carefully to the European Scientific Advisory Board and climate changes recommendation And and I think that's an important consideration We it's not just a commission in its ivory tower Plucking out a number. It's based on very careful modeling work very careful consideration just quickly from more of a an energy perspective if I could here And I'm particularly turning in to look at what Ireland has done and then Jake can speak to the more general provisions We know that's the We're looking for very clear sense of direction both on renewables We want to see a significant Raising of the ambition for the 2030 share of renewables If you look at the governance formula, which works under the national energy and climate plans We we we're looking at a 43 percent share under the national Climate plan Which is a separate exercise of course Island has indicated that it wants to have 80 percent of its electricity production Coming from renewable energy by 2030, so we're looking to see that translate into a strong renewables number in this plan and energy efficiency of course is a very difficult topic difficult in many many parts of the world and It's essential that the final NECP from Ireland really helps drive a clear framework towards these Towards this effort including national energy efficiency contributions in both final and primary energy consumption and a complete Description of the policies and measures that would achieve this target Based on the principle of the energy efficiency first principle being implemented and As we go forward and I know you to broaden out briefly and then I'll pass the floor over to Jake This this discussion is now taking place very much in the context of of competitiveness Some people say ah, this is the EU starting to wander away from Implementing of the Green Deal as its core principles. I personally profoundly don't see that I don't hear that in there in the description in a communication we put up last week I think present Wonderland described the European Green Deal as our new growth strategy But it does we do need to keep growth and competitiveness in this equation and in this discussion And that's why we're very happy to have this discussion framed in this way And we also of course need to remember most of my final point. I promise The broader context we are not just doing this inside the European Union Wouldn't have a sense of purpose and we are very excited that what happened in the last COP meeting COP 28 Which gave us I think quite a powerful momentum Overall globally towards the transition away from fossil fuels phasing out fossil fuels subsidies, for example and I know that Ireland has particularly Taken the commitment to phase out coal and people out electricity generation So this is a very positive sign and a positive contribution to what's going on at the international level We want to see now concrete steps towards that transition away from fossil fuels again orderly and adjust transition in the language of the COP And we also believe that the tripling of energy of renewables and the doubling of energy efficiency commitments at the global level Will help drive us positively down that line. So those are my opening remarks to kick off That's the context in which we're we're talking about it We are very keen to see Ireland continue to lead as it does in many areas Including in what it's ready to put on the table in terms of its national energy and climate plan Jake Okay, thank you very much Matthew Allowing to introduce Jacob first before I hand it over to you finally and so Jacob worksman is the principal advisor as I said to the director general of Climate for climate action in the European Commission since 2012 and his work focuses on the international aspects of European climate policy He is head of delegation for the European Union to the Paris Agreement and the UN framework and Convention on climate change Prior to joining the Commission he provided legal and policy advice to develop and developing country governments the NGOs and International institutions in the context of multilateral negotiations in climate change bio safety and trade He's currently also visiting professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and has lectured in international Environmental and economic law at several universities and I think I'll hand it over to you Thank you. Thank you chair and thanks to Matthew and thanks to the organizers and our hosts for Inviting us to join us today as Matthew says We're here primarily to Given a perspective from from Brussels on the particular stage that we are in climate and energy policy making But also very much to hear from from you on your views of both what Ireland is doing what it can continue to do and And how it's reacting to EU policy Developed within within our context It's hard for me even coming to an individual member state to fully remove my hat as a is a climate change negotiator What I do on a on a day-to-day basis is to engage with the rest of the international community To try to persuade them to be as ambitious as Europe hopes to be in tackling the challenge of climate change that Absolutely depends as our first and foremost diplomatic tool that we can demonstrate that we as the EU are taking the Paris Agreement Seriously, and that we are showing leadership. We only represent roughly 7% of global emissions So our climate change policies if they are about Preventing dangerous climate change as defined by Paris avoiding a 1.5 degree global average temperature rise only Succeeds if we can persuade others to follow as well This is a particular unique moment in time as Matthew was pointing out for for Irish climate policy for European climate policy And for global pilot climate policy and that is because of something that we built into the Paris Agreement called the ambition cycle Every five years rather than negotiating a new treaty as we did with the Kyoto protocol and then the Paris Agreement The Paris Agreement is supposed to adjust and refresh itself to bring new ambition Through a process by which we look at what the science is telling us has to be done We look at what we've been able to achieve so far in terms of implementation And then we set a new set of targets for ourselves to make sure that we as individual parties But the globe as a whole is moving towards net zero And we have increasingly specific indications of what we need to get there one is the the transition away from fossil fuels But but that's the essentially the idea of the Paris Agreement ambition cycle We as the EU very consciously and I think very conscientiously Designed that same ambition cycle into our European climate law So as Matthew described, we also now have to respond every five years to the science This isn't global science from the IPCC, but it's further distilled through the EU climate scientific advisory board into EU specific recommendations about What we can do in a cost effective manner to get our emissions down And then through these national energy and climate plans, we expect each of the member states also to say how they are responding So we're at a moment where we're supposed to be demonstrating that we are implementing our existing targets Those are the targets that take us out to 2030 the famous fit for 55 package that the NECPs are intended to address But it's also the moment in time where we begin to reflect on what happens next in the post 2030 period Where we can demonstrate that we're putting ourselves on a pathway to net zero as is required by the European climate law And as I understand is also required by the Irish Climate law and policy framework as well So we are we are compelled by the science to do this if we don't we're in deep trouble We're bound by the law to do this from the Paris Agreement To the European climate law to the Irish climate law But I don't know if you've followed in the press that the European Court of Human Rights just just ruled this week That in fact human rights law holds at least European countries To an obligation to protect their citizens right to private life and to life by responding effectively to the challenge of climate change so all the set of Legal principles and and and rules and guidance compels us as well the economics as As Matthew was describing invite us to move along this path as well If if what happened in Dubai Is is real if governments respond to what it is they themselves agreed that we are transitioning away from fossil fuels The economic opportunities of investing in that transition become absolutely essential for any Economy that wants to thrive and to prosper as the EU does and as Ireland does to grab on To this opportunity as well So the real challenge now is is aligning the politics making sure that the politics maintain that momentum and Making sure that the policies generated by those politics are granular and specific enough to create that very important investment environment to take place and to ensure that that that transition continues to have Momentum and that's where the the NECPs for Ireland for the different member states begin to reveal Well, how many specific steps has each member state taken to convert the law? What what the with the economics? Invite us to do what the science requires us to do into something that is more Predictable a stable and investable by by a combination of public sector and private sector investments and what we see from the Many member states NECPs is that they're beginning to take the first steps in that direction But our our review has indicated for Ireland and for others that that more could be done to create that more Specific policy context in which those essential investments really really need to take place So as hopefully our conversation will we'll get to in a moment We're now in this period where the Irish NECP is being updated And we'd like to hear from you as we've heard from the from the Irish government what the plans are to make that particular NECP a little bit more specific and Directional and the EU of course is here to help with that transition We have developed many tools to assist one is the NEC process itself Where colleagues like like mine from DG Klima? Robin is here a desk officer for Ireland who has studied not just the Irish NECP but also the experiences of other member states We can help with that kind of lesson learning so that that member states can learn from each other's policies Particularly in those areas that aren't directly governed by European policy and those emissions that are outside for example the EU ETS How they've for for example been able to tackle energy efficiency in buildings road transportation Land use land use change and forestry which aren't as directly governed by EU policy As as those sectors of the economy that are directly covered by by the cap and trade system So we can help through that But we've also been very careful to try to develop as much as we can Financial resources that can kick off investments as well So our response to the COVID crisis our response to the energy crisis In caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine all provided opportunities for us to pool resources at the at the EU regional level and make them available to member states to help them with the recovery and with the cost of energy But we made sure that those investments would have to be aligned with our climate and energy goals as well and so there are now hundreds of millions of euros flowing to member states including to Ireland to allow them to invest in things like The the the and essentially the some of the policies and investments that lie behind The the NECP as it's as it's emerging We've also managed to through the ETS to collect Resources at the regional level to invest in the cutting-edge of what will be required to fully green our economy The latest of these is the innovation fund Which we expect to be able to raise as much as 40 billion euros over the course of the period between now and 2030 and we've already begun to make those resources available to investors that Come forward with credible projects where they believe that with some additional money They can transform energy technologies for example into commercially viable projects an example recently from from Ireland was a significant investment in a wave and tidal energy Project if I'm getting this right the Seersha development wave energy in Offshore and County Claire so we can help in in those ways as well And my understanding is that there are nine new proposals from Ireland alone that are entering the pipeline in 2023 for more investments of that nature We're also very impressed by the the framework that Ireland has put in place in terms of its climate law But also the advice that it's getting from the climate change advisory council and its committee on adaptation as to how it can ensure that public funds are flowing into the policies That can make all of all of this happen, but these examples Really won't take root the specific examples of project investments from resources coming from the EU Won't take root unless there is that that domestic policy context That ensures investors that there will be continuity over time that will support the use of these energies and and these these technologies Let me briefly touch upon the issue of agriculture because we know that that is a sensitive issue Within Ireland but also across the EU both Matthew and I have had the experience of having to walk back home through the streets of Brussels smelling the burning tires and stepping in the in the in the manure that was spread by farmers Some of them pushing back Against what they see is over-regulation Coming coming from from from Brussels There is no doubt that this sector the land use change and forestry sectors We describe it in the EU is one of the the toughest to tackle Not just because the politics but because some of the technologies Aren't yet available to help us for example to directly manage methane emissions from from from livestock And so it is what we call one of the hardest to abate sectors There is no question that if we're going to get to net zero by 2050 We're going to have to find a mix of policies incentives that make sure that we can get those emissions down While continuing to allow our agricultural sector our farmers to prosper And we are looking at ways and in some ways very innovative ways of how we can do that a recent proposal from the the Commission Has now established what we call a carbon removals certificate framework Well, which will incentivize? Farmers and foresters to put in place practices whereby they can demonstrate that those new practices are reducing emissions effectively By capturing carbon and storing it on a on a permanent basis And that's just one of the ways in which we're trying to bring that sector into the fold of the sectors That are covered by emissions reductions But in a way that made sure that they can maintain their their their livelihoods So let me just wrap up by pointing again back to the Paris Agreement and to where I usually spend most of my time another part of the cycle that is We are anticipating For for this year and the coming years is what we call the enhanced transparency framework So for the very first time all parties to the Paris Agreement a hundred and ninety countries Not just developed countries, but developing countries as well Including the EU and its member states will have to report in Their national inventories of greenhouse gases and the policies that they're putting in place in order to achieve their nationally determined contributions that the targets that they have Pledged to the Paris Agreement for us. It's our fit for 55 and we will have to see in that data Evidence that those policies are being put in place. They're beginning to be put in being implemented And that the the inventories of greenhouse gases are responding in in a trajectory that's bringing us on a pathway to net zero So the moment of accountability is going to be created at the Paris level as well as the European level And I'm sure that that Irish citizens will want to see as well that their governments are Responding to this challenge on the basis of that and the decisions that we take we took in Dubai We will then have to next year in Brazil in Belém come forward with our new targets And that's the the 2040 communication proposal that Matthew mentioned Where the Commission has recommended that in order for us to be true that we've committed to under the European climate law and to Respond to the science that we would Need to be on a pathway to net zero and that pathway for 2040 would include from the Commission's point of view a commitment to reduce emissions EU wide by 90% from 1990 levels by by 2040 from that we will extract our nationally determined contribution for the Paris Agreement and we're looking for a support from from Ireland and elsewhere to make sure that EU continues to show Leadership and we can only do that on the basis of the leadership that we see from member states like like Ireland