 Good morning everybody. So thank you for joining us. I think we're going to kick off now with the event, lessons from a crisis, how to achieve a climate neutral energy secure and prosperous transition for Europe and the business sector. I'm delighted to chair this timely event which will bring together business networks from across Europe that work to support climate and sustainability. All across Europe business networks have been working actively to increase climate ambition, recognizing the economic social and environmental benefits of the transition towards a climate neutral resource efficient and sustainable Europe. And day by day we see momentum growing from businesses across Europe across sectors across sizes. And we really see enormous support for the transition. It's been a very heavy year, as we all know, enormous changes in the geopolitics, following the invasion of Ukraine enormous new plans on repower aiming to reduce Europe's dependency from Russian fossil fuels, changes to big pieces of climate legislation that are aimed to achieve our 2030 target. And, but broadly what we see is that businesses are supporting the increase in ambition. We worked with more than 150 businesses to us that called on the EU to strengthen energy security by accelerating the green transition. We see that this is a no regrets option. We must we must do this. And another key element of course is the questions around the fit for 55 package. And we would clearly like from our side to see some ambition on this in the next period with looking at the renewable energy directive and the discussions on the energy performance of buildings directive. These will be really key planks to giving long term policy security and certainty for businesses and to direct the investment that we need. Another key element we see coming up this year is the EU's response to the inflation reduction act. And we would be really keen to look into what the opportunities are and how this new next zero industry act will will change the landscape of the EU. Clearly we see that companies have been developing solutions. And what we would like to see a policies that support this and can enable them to develop and scale these up and increase their competitiveness in the EU and globally. So this event will be an opportunity to reflect on the progress made during last year and the response from policy makers and solutions to deal with the current energy crisis, but also to see how we can look forward and help increase the competitive sustainability of industry and green investments. So we'll be looking at solutions and hearing from a number of different policy makers to see what they think are the key challenges this year will be hearing from businesses and business networks on the important role of policies. And we'll look at how we can stimulate green investments. I am just to introduce myself in particular work with corporate leaders group Europe, which is a group of businesses that are really following these these issues. And I think we're really looking forward to seeing how we can support ambition this year, how we can look to solutions to the different crises that are affected is affecting the EU and see how we can drive forward some solutions. So during this event, we'll start with the scene setter so looking at lessons learned from 2022 and from looking forward to 2023 so we have speakers from the commissioner and the parliament. Then we'll move forward to hear what the Spanish presidency are planning on climate and energy related priorities. And then we'll look into some of the key issues so firstly renewable energy and energy efficiency and then secondly looking at the competitive sustainability of the EU's economy and industry. So I think it will be really fascinating and deep discussion today and we look forward to hearing from all the speakers. One final point so of course you can you can put your questions, submit questions via this go to webinar and we will try and take them as possible during the discussion. We'll be monitoring that. And of course we'll be tweeting on and so forth so please join in online and don't hesitate to share your thoughts. I think with this I'd be delighted to bring in the speakers for the first session. So if on, if you could turn your camera on. And MEP come five if you're there if you could also turn your camera on but perhaps for now if we could start with if one slinging bag even thank you so much for joining us. And everyone is the director of strategy analysis and planning in Digi Lima. She's had a long illustrious career in the commission across Digi environment several commissioner cabinets and more recently on international affairs. But since the end of 2020 she's been responsible more for climate strategy governance and emissions so I think we really look forward to hearing your views on how you see the next year. Thank you so much for joining us please go ahead. Thanks so much and good morning everyone. Very nice to be with you. Already last year I think you had my colleague Clara de la Torre in the event more or less around the same time so happy to continue the conversation. Of course last year was all about, you know, the COVID pandemic, how we kind of, you know, kept the Green Deal as part of that. And fighting the pandemic recovery and resilience facility, asking member states plans to also focus on well actually to prioritize the investments in accelerating the transition so renewables energy efficiency innovation in industry infrastructure etc. And I think we are just to put that issue we are progressing well I mean member states are currently implementing their plans they're asking for their payment requests etc. So that track has progressed well I think more or less of course still to be seen on the ground so to say what really happens but then unfortunately after the event you had last year. We have seen a major unexpected or at least in terms of dimension event happening with the the aggression of Russia on Ukraine, which has triggered of course as we all know, really very serious consequences in terms of very high high energy prices due to the fact that people were kind of scrambling to secure energy supply of course we're profiting of that I'm in my warm house and not like the people in Ukraine, you know, in too much of a cold. And also, at the same time it kind of pushed the point much more to the fore that we need to become more independent of fossil fuels not only Russian fossil fuels but fossil fuels in general so has kind of, you know, given an additional boost to the needs to generate when it comes to renewable energy generation and energy efficiency. So the at EU level we there again have come with a plan which was the repower EU plan as you mentioned Ursula, where again member states can top up their recovery plans with our specific plans of course this is also sometimes looking at you know additional if we want to call it like that fossil fuel infrastructure but this is always intended to be very temporary and enabling the transition towards either renewables or green hydrogen etc. So we have been able I think, you know to take or to state of course on the green deal in these very turbulent times. And yeah, we are of course also particularly pleased that the process we were in the middle of which was the fit for 55 package with all the different legal proposals we have been able to deliver on that. We have found agreements at least on the five climate files that are part of the fit for 55 package by the end of last year political agreements that is still needing formal approval and publication of course in the visual journal. And Pascal confin will certainly be able to testify you know to the complexity of those files they're in the linkages, how they all you know support each other and are you know to a certain extent dependent on each other and you know the long hours that has gone into that but I wanted to emphasize also the really common resolve to make that happen despite all the uncertainties and the complexity so I think that was excellent news. Of course, other parts of the fit for 55 package still to be finalized you mentioned yourself the renewable energy directive the energy efficiency directive we have the energy performance in buildings that are active we have the transport for the fuels and aviation and maritime files we have things like the energy taxation directive now I just want to emphasize that of course the taxation directive requires unanimity but that doesn't mean that member states cannot already act you know they can also try and do like is being done in the US, you know tax breaks for certain things etc. So let's hope that also member states are looking into that. Now, what does that mean just to recap we, we have strengthened the US emission trading system to bring the level of ambition up to making sure that we meet the minus 55%. We have brought in the whole maritime sector which is you know had we have been building up towards that first putting in place, monitoring and reporting but by now they will start coming in and that is I think a really big additional coverage of this carbon pricing instrument in terms of sectors. And then I think a very important achievement also where it's the confine himself has been particularly active is this new emission trading system for buildings and and road transport so putting a carbon price on the fuels that are being used in these sectors and this really will enable or help member states also to achieve their their effort sharing targets so their national targets for these sectors also to achieve them in a more cost efficient manner that has of course always been the purpose. Now, I think it was very clear in everybody's mind that adding a cost if you want you know or price onto the fuel that is being used in in households and and yeah also for for mobility is of course an easy thing to explain to citizens so a lot of work has gone into building you know safeguards around, you know, countering excessive price fluctuations to make sure that we have funding tools to actually, you know, support this this transition and as we call it leave no one behind. And for that we have been setting up a social climate fund I'm sure you all know about it to really, you know, address the vulnerable citizens in a vulnerable micro enterprises and to help them with money again on the basis of plans that the member states will need to make their social climate plans in a couple of years to make sure that you know they can also make this change that we can enable the necessary investments in insulation in in renewable generation also to shift in mobility. So a big, big fund a new additional fund at your level, additionally, for that. Now I already mentioned the national targets so the effort sharing regulation increased ambition has been agreed, we have I think a very visible agreement also on cars where we have agreed that you know there will be only zero emission cars put on the market in 2035. We of course also have strengthened the trajectory towards that so an increased target for 2030. I also mentioned the land sector because sometimes this is a little bit, you know, forgotten but in order to get to climate neutrality by 2050, excuse me, as we, as we all know that is binding legal requirement that we're working towards set in the European climate law of 2021. We need a major contribution of the land sector. And we really need to, you know, make sure that we don't have increasing emissions there but in particular also that we increase the carbon absorption of the land. And that will need to happen by 2030 and even beyond, you know, we will really need to step up on that one. So with those different pieces of legislation, we have, let's say, ensured that we would be meeting the minus 55% goal, of course, all those other files that we mentioned before will be contributing and will be helping to achieve them. There are kind of like, you know, different elements if you remember that slide we had in the beginning, the B Hive, you know, with all the difference and contributions so that is still to happen. But, yeah, nevertheless, we have the necessary architecture in place that should make us get there in 2030 it is only seven years I want to emphasize by now. It's not much time to really make it happen. We have a few other pieces of legislation. I also wanted to mention because there are some relevance to the people in the panels and in the audience. We have a legislation of fluorinated greenhouse gases and ozone depleting substances where we want the leakage and, you know, the emissions from these devices that have these gases in them. In particular, switch gear as well to really move away from, you know, these, these greenhouse gases that are part of them and use new techniques. So that is also a very important piece of legislation we're going to be or we have put forward a voluntary framework for carbon removals, where again that should help increase these carbon absorptions in particular post 2030 as we see it, but to really learn our lessons there and to try and get that in place. And then of course very shortly we will also be coming with standards for heavy duty vehicles so to also, you know, tackle that part of the transport sector. I want to mention that we will shortly also be launching well in the coming I would say two months are our work and notably our open public consultation on the next big milestone which is to set a target for 2040. Now we are very conscious of the fact that this will may or may sound a bit crazy for people you know to have only just done the architecture for 2030 and here we start again talking about 2040 but at the same time this is a requirement that we have in European climate law. As you all know it takes quite some preparation to get to such a new assessment you know impact assessment etc etc. So we are starting that work and we hope for your understanding that you know we will start that despite the fact that of course we have a huge task ahead of us in terms of implementation. And this is implementing legislation but it is also really you know now looking at how member states and all the different players so local and regional authorities but also of course very much the business sector are going to help to realize all the ambition we have in these different pieces of legislation. So action on the ground and I think that will of course then be determined for the acceptability of going to the next step any 2040 targets. We will have national energy and climate plans that need to be updated but I very much want to emphasize that this will need to go hand in hand and fully aligned with the recovery and resilience plans and of course the repower plans. So within the commission we are working very closely together to make sure that you know the funds that are available and I think there is not a lack of funds despite the bit of a panic on the IRA. But there is an enormous amount of funds we also have all the ETS revenues that member states now have to use towards climate purposes so in terms of investments there is money. There needs to be coherence in how you know the member states set out what are their priorities what are they going to do to really you know roll out this increase in renewable energy generation and energy efficiency in particular. And that can of course also really help for for next winter and make sure that we don't end up in a similar situation as as the situation we had early autumn with so high energy prices. And that I would just like to emphasize that you know is really all about in my view business working together with member states you know where are things still not working where do we need to tackle national bottlenecks. How can we really you know plan these seven years, because of course we know that we have bottlenecks also again in terms of, you know, sometimes supply chain issues. Well the critical role materials but even the other role materials we have workforce issues but I think that is really a situation and a challenge for member states that they need to tackle also in terms of you know attracting the necessary workforce and planning ahead in terms of, you know again in the renewable energy proposal there are options to to look at go to areas etc etc but I think we will need to start seeing in the coming year 123 years that things are really changing on the ground for member states to keep confidence and to keep supporting the transition and to really be able to make the change So of course that is and I will finish with that going to be essential not only within Europe, but also to continue on the international stage to be able to say look we have not gone of course we have we are still implementing the Green Deal we are at it. We have all our regulation in place and now we're going to make it happen on the ground. COP28 I think is already on many people's minds at the end of this year and that will be a very important moment in time to again have that conversation and of course we don't just do it at the COP we do it throughout the year. But to say okay we are in in the light of all these challenges we are still, you know, not only implementing our transition but also accelerating it. So very happy to be on the panel and the whole day and to listen to all the things that are happening in the business sector. It will be crucial to have these innovative solutions rolled out taken up and keep the momentum so happy to be with you for the rest of the morning. Thank you so much. Thank you, Yvonne, much appreciated. So I think I heard MEP confound just now. Can you hear us? Yes, I can. Sorry for the delay. Well, thank you so much for joining us. So we just heard a bit from Yvonne about her view of the year looking ahead and of the person. Thank you so much Yvonne. Perhaps it'd be great to hear from you, you know, as the chair of the environment committee and had to deal with so much in the past year and looking ahead. On your view of the role that businesses had in this political discussion and where they've had impact and what more we should be doing moving forward. So thank you so much for joining us. Go ahead. So first, thank you for the invitation. Sorry for the delay, but I have technical difficulties to join. So I have a limited amount of time. I will focus on a few key messages. First, I think we you played and the progressive business community played a massive role, a massive role in delivering what we have already delivered. Let's say the fit for 55 in a nutshell. And more than ever, the alliance between the political families and the political decision makers from various groups and the progressive businesses are key. I mean, this alliance is key more than ever. So we need to make that work and it is, I would say the only way to keep on delivering. Why? Because we have in the context of the war in Ukraine and inflation and everything we have challenges. We have two trends, one which is positive for the Green Deal, another one which is negative for the Green Deal. So the negative one is obviously inflation, energy prices, less competitiveness in Europe and threats or the narrative on the threat regarding food security. If you put all that together, you have a counter narrative to the Green Deal and that it could be a risk for the Green Deal. And this narrative is politically more and more endorsed by in the parliament EPP plus ECR plus of course far right. And what we can see in some countries, and it's obvious recently in Italy, in Sweden, is an alliance of this counter narrative. And of course they can win. It's the beauty of democracy. So the only way to counter that is to build on the positive trend. The positive trend is this crisis is a crisis of our dependency to fossil fuel. So let's speed up on energy efficiency, let's speed up on renewables and for those who want to do it for nuclear. Now, let's speed up on decarbonization of industry because the year 2022 will remain and that's my deep conviction, will remain as the year where the competition, the real competition for the location of green value chains and green industries and green technologies really started. Of course with China and with the US with air. So now the battle for the location or the showing of where the green agroging will be built, where the cheap windmills will be located, where the green steel will be produced and so on. It's now same for batteries for electrolyzers for EVs and so on and so on. And it's a typical battle where we need progressive industries with us because it's a battle for regulation, for standards, for investment, for the riskings and so on and so on. And that's the only way to speed up Green Deal for real now. And of course once and of course this is the core of what we are trying to design in response to ARF. And what is very interesting in the narrative is that before the ARF I would say spring 2022 and up to the ARF. We managed to deliver on the fit for 55 but the macro narrative which was growing was the first narrative I was referring to. Let's say the anti-green deal or if not anti-green deal, let's be cautious, don't go too fast, don't go too far. That's the typical rationale we can hear. Since the ARF came in the European debate and strongly, it reshaped again saying, okay, oh guys, no, it's really not the time to slow down. It's on the contrary the time to speed up, to simplify, to be more predictable in the support we give and so on. And that's why we are again in a new sequence where we are designing additional responses which is of course good in order to speed up the delivering on the green deal. So that's where we are. I'm not going to enter into all the fives unless first we have time, second you have questions. But that's the key messages I wanted to share. The key one, the top priority is let's keep on working together because what we delivered for instance on deforestation, on imported deforestation, we delivered it only because we managed to find it, not an agreement, but a model which had been tested by some progressive businesses in the agro food sector. And they came to us and they say, well, it works. It does not work at K because not all the actors have to comply with this rule. But it delivers. We know how to do it. And it was impossible for the most conservative ones to say it's not working. There is no sourcing. You cannot trace it and some because actually in the real world it was not. Same for cars. Imagine the debate on cars without a few car makers saying we are supporting of that. We will do it. We will invest in it. Forget about the political decision as we did. So that's why these key elements of association between progressive businesses and progressive decision makers, political decision makers is key and will remain key in the near future. Thank you. Well, thank you so much, MEP Confan. I'm so sorry for your difficulties in joining today. I think, given this, I think we'll let you go and I really appreciate it. I really take that message that we need to keep supporting, we need to keep working with the decision makers to help deliver some of these really key things in the next year. So thank you so much and thank you Yvonne as well. I think in this case we'll move to the next session. So if Thomas, if you could put on your camera. Thank you so much for joining. I apologize for a few minutes over the time. So thank you so much for joining us to Mr Linman. So he's the director, deputy director general for international affairs in the Ministry of Environment in Sweden. And he's had a long experience in the Swedish government on climate enterprise and now environment. So we're looking forward to hearing your views on what the Swedish presidency, which of course I'm sure is keeping you very busy at the moment. So we look forward to hearing what how you see the year and your key priorities. So thank you. Thank you very much. It was very interesting to listen to Yvonne and Pascal before and of course it will be some sort of repetition here, even if I will try to have the presidency perspective on this. But as you all know that Sweden is assuming the presidency on the council at the time of historic challenges, I would say for the member states as well as for the Union as a whole. Russia is illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine is a threat to the European security and Ukraine is fighting for survival as a nation and for the security and lives of its citizens. But it also has dire consequences for migration as well as for global food and energy supplies. And the war has also highlighted the need to reduce emissions, complete the transition to a more resource efficient and circular society, make the EU independent of fossil energy. The climate crisis and the biodiversity loss are existential problems that must be resolved together. Here, here we believe that he has an important role to play as a global leader of the green transition. We must lead by example by delivering an ambitious climate goals and boost growth and competitiveness. During our presidency we will put the FIT455 interaction and speed up the energy transition. The FIT455 package is of course a fundamental tool to reach our climate targets. And of course we are very thankful to previous presidencies and of course also to the parliament for their tremendous work in finalizing many of these facts. Apart from FIT455 we also hope it will be possible to reach council mandates on the proposals on fluorinated greenhouse gases or just F-gasses and also depleting substances. F-gasses and most also depleting substances have a global warming potential many times greater than carbon dioxide. So reducing their emissions is necessary to pipe climate change. We will also focus on the other climate related files such as this EU2 emissions from heavy duty vehicles that we expect will be tabled at the beginning of this year. Another proposal we will try to progress on is the carbon removal certification framework. There is a great need for robust legislative framework to help further incentivize the upscaling of these techniques. This will be important for the EU to achieve our 2050 climate targets. In the energy field we will make legislation related to the energy crisis a priority including any upcoming proposals or revising the electricity market design. We will make a real effort to finalize as much as possible of the outstanding energy files under FIT455 package. All these files will have a long-term impact on energy imports, climate and security of supply. We will continue negotiations on renewable energy, red and energy efficiency directives. And when the European Parliament has adopted this position we will also take forward the work regarding the directive on energy performance on buildings. This also applies for the regulation on reduced methane emissions in the energy sector. And we will also continue negotiations in the Council on the gas and hydrogen market package. We believe that to some extent we have witnessed a great shift or at least a shift in the climate debate whereas businesses in the past was often an obstacle to more ambitious climate policies. Business is now increasingly becoming a driver in the green decision. In some sectors policies even lagging behind the industries commitment. With Sweden we see a large scale of private investments across the country and technologies crucial to the climate transition. Such as zero emission steel in new battery factories and carbon capture and storage facilities. So how can businesses and legislators interact? We believe that involving businesses in the early stage in the regulatory discussions is extremely important. The regulatory framework must admit the industry to develop and scale up solutions needed for green transition while at the same time increasing their competitiveness. An interesting example of interaction is LEEDIT which was an initiative taken by Sweden and India in 2019. This group is working for a green transition of having emission intensive industry globally. They work actively with tackling roadblocks and bottlenecks for industry transition and serve as a link between governments and industry in the global efforts to fight climate change. Taking the right measures and creating the best policy framework for business to develop is not always easy. Therefore I would like to mention that we will host an informal ministerial meeting in Stockholm on the 18th and 19th of April. The meeting will focus on strengthening collaboration with the private sector to speed up the green transition. We believe success comes from a close cooperation between policymakers and businesses. Business leaders from different EU member states will be invited to showcase good examples, experiences and challenges on the road towards net zero greenhouse gas emissions. Circular business models and nature positive operations. We encourage member states to suggest a frontrunner company as well on the way in the green transition and invite them to the meeting. We will take stock of the notion that there is true business case for green transition and champion the idea that the green deal would EU pit for 55. The strategy for biological diversity, the action plan for circular economy, sustainable chemical strategy and related legislation will all contribute to strengthening Europe's long-term global competitiveness. We hope to inspire by good examples and address roadblocks identified by business frontrunners. The discussion at the informal ministerial meeting will focus on policies that can facilitate and speed up the green transition while improving Europe's competitiveness. Let me finish by repeating the main Swedish messages used for climate action globally, urgency and opportunity. Urgency has proven by science and opportunity proven by the new jobs and growth that the transition brings. Thank you. Thank you so much. It was great to hear the priorities. I believe we've been joined by MEP Gonzalez-Coceres and I understand you have a hard stop, right? You have to leave at 10.45, is that correct? If you allow me, I may make a small quick change to the agenda. I will come back to Nina's response to the Swedish priorities. And here briefly from Mr Gonzalez-Coceres, who sits on the industry committee and is the rapporteur and opinion leader on renewable energy for the socialist and democratic parties. And also looking at questions around permitting, sustainable air transport. So it'd be great. I'm slightly moving the agenda around a little bit. But it'd be great to hear from you briefly, MEP Gonzalez-Coceres, about your views on the state of play, in fact, of the negotiations on the renewable energy directive and some of these different elements that we need moving forward. Thank you very much. Thank you very much Ursula and thank you to CLG Europe for inviting me to this event today and thank you to all the participants. I want to apologize because I cannot stand until the end, the entire session. Right now we are living in some crucial moments when it comes to the energy system in Europe. You know the war is a disaster for the people, but also a big problem for Europe. We have to decarbonize our energy sector and how to do it based on renewables is a big challenge right now. So we are also in the middle of the debate of the inflection reduction at the American inflection reduction at and the response announced by the European Commission last week. The Green Deal industrial plan and the net zero industry at so we are in a very complicated moment and we had to take a lot of decisions. And I think that the current crisis has so now the weakness of some points of the energy system in Europe and also the industrial supply chain that we have. So we can see now a small opportunity window to improve the carbonic energy system and also to be more competitive and to have more competitiveness to improve our competitiveness also in Europe. And I think that the Renewable Directive is also an opportunity. We are dealing with the permitting process you mentioned right now. And I think that we did a very important steps in these negotiations. And I think that the permitting process is not going to be a problem to deal in try looks right now we have other problems in the in this negotiation. For example when it comes to the bioenergy how to ensure that the bioenergy is real and clean renewable source of energy. And sometimes we have some that's so this is one of the main challenge that we have in the negotiations and also the problem of transport how to get the transport is really sustainable. And not allowing some technologies that are based also in some in some parts of fossil fuels. So I think this is also a big challenge for us. I want to mention about the renewable energy directive that we we have to finalize this in before the beginning of the spring. I think the agreement is needed before because you know we have to put a lot of investment in order to get more renewables. We have this new fund. We need a lot of people with the skills that we don't have right now because this massive deployment of renewables will need different skills that we are not having right now. The workforce is not ready for the big challenge that we are facing. So we need more people engaged. And this is also an opportunity an opportunity for for a labor system and to decrease the rate of unemployment because we are changing one economy based on fossil fuels to another that is based on renewables but we have also to change the skills. Other people I want also to mention the delegated that of the additionality of hydrogen. We are waiting for a long time for this delegated that to be unveiled but the Commission has a bit delay. And we need it now. We need clear additionality framework. We need a strict criteria to avoid ring washing when it comes to hydrogen but at the same time we have to create hydrogen a renewable hydrogen market in Europe. So this balance this balance is needed but also taking into account that green hydrogen should be based only in renewables. And let me say it is last minute that I want to use about the electricity market reform that we are facing for the next months. I think that the energy market has shown us in these previous months in the last in the last year that is not well functioning during this kind of crisis. This reliance on fossil fuels. Stopped us to see the benefits of renewable energy sources because we have more renewables but we were paying more money in this in this energy market. So I think we need this reform. We are already some proposals one from my country Spain. I think that we were as a country in the forefront of the mostly the song of the proposals that were used during this crisis. I think that now we have an opportunity to make a big reform of this market. But but we are waiting for the Commission to make the proposals. Now we are in the in the process and I think that we have to move forward. We have to move fast because we are in the end of the Legislature and I don't want to finalize this Legislature without this reform. And sorry I apologize because I am in a meeting. There is a lot of there are a lot of people coming here. But for me it was a pleasure and thank you. Thank you. No, I appreciate very much your insights on where you think we really need to go. And I think we will be definitely supporting as much as possible ambition in these areas. I really much appreciate your intervention. So I let you go to your meeting. And I moved to Nina. Sorry for moving you around, either but delighted you could join us. So Nina founded the Swedish business network, the Hargo initiative in 2010 and is executive director and she's somebody who has both business as well as senior government and agency experience. but should have some really interesting insights into from Sweden and broadly and the many things that people have brought up in this panel. So it'd be great to hear from you on your perspective. So please Nina, go ahead. Thank you so much Ursula. And it's so much you want to say in these few minutes. So I just want to start saying it was so interesting to hear Thomas talk from about priorities for the Swedish presidency. And I just love that you mentioned that you should be a global leader in sustainability. That is super important. And that is also really something to live up to. And he also mentioned that circularity and he also mentioned heavy vehicles and carbon reduction there and also carbon removal. So that is also a few important topics. And also that fit for 55 is an important tool. So, and we know that the devil sits in the details. So let's just hope that the Swedish presidency can manage all this. And I also interesting to hear Yvonne also asked I want to mention that she mentioned the target a new target for 2014. I think that is really important. We're running this business network hug initiative for 12 years. And we can see that high ambitions, tough targets is super important. It's good for business. It's good for business advantages. It's good for competition. So we really welcome new targets. And I also just want to mention a few other things connected to because if we see what the private sector in Sweden are doing right now and how we can bring energy into the Swedish presidency. I just want to mention we have two studies in Sweden where we looked at business. We have looked at the 128 large companies at the stock market. And we looked 2020 and 2022 and we looked how many of the companies half the remission in their own operation every 10 years. And two years ago, it was 20% and last year it was 66% that half the remission every 10 years. And that's a 300% improvement. That's fantastic. And the big companies are also working together with smaller companies. So it's a big, big influence from companies in Sweden. And in another report, Sweden largest emitters. The topic is, and the headline for this report is surprisingly no, Sweden's largest emitters turn into negative emitters by 2050. And we can see when we looked at this 20 largest emitters that representing around 30% of Sweden's total emission, we can see that they will not only reduce their own emissions but they will also become large contributors of negative emissions. So they're going down almost to zero and then contributors of negative emissions. And that was good because Thomas mentioned just carbon removals. And I think it's so important to see because the biggest emissions are hard to evade sector and seeing all that happens there. And also Thomas mentioned hybrid steel without coal and our battery factory in the northern Sweden. But I also want to mention three other examples. Companies really is delivering in the carbon transition that we're into right now. We have Lantman, Agretta Nåll and that is the Nordic region's largest bio refinery and they will find grain and waste products into ethanol, protein and carbon dioxide. And up to 98% C2 reduction compared to fossil fuels and cream Sweden largest oil refining companies is rethinking their entire value chain to go from being the largest, one of the largest carbon emitters to become climate neutral by 2035 in one, two and three of the scopes. So that is fantastic travel they're doing. And also we have still a recycling and the battery is recycling and they're building a new factory that will recycle batteries. So it's happening within the business. And we just want to say we welcome use high emissions. That is so important. And climate policy is a prerequisite for building the business models. And that is so important. And I also want to mention just four things that we really need in the future from business from policy and EU. We need to talk about acceptance, citizens involvement and acceptance of climate policy. That's important. We need to strengthen the work around circular economy. We won't need to look like a question about state aid and the risk of state aid race between countries. That is a risk. And of course we can see that IRA is both a risk and an opportunity because it will help US handle their climate targets, but we can't have the risk of competing with it. And also last I also want to mention biodiversity and I heard someone mentioning that I think it should be Thomas. We need to connect biodiversity with climate because it both interacts and support reaching climate and biodiversity. So that was my bullet point. Thank you. Thank you, Nina. No, thank you so much. That was really fascinating to hear about the different business initiatives in Sweden. And we also really agree on the need to really bring in nature more consequently. Now I know we're running a tiny bit late, so I think I'll move straight to the next section. And I'd be delighted if Rasmus could join us. So Rasmus Valenko is the Managing Director for Systems Transformation at the We Mean Business Coalition. So he has an enormous wealth of knowledge and experience on looking at transformation in business, looking at collaboration initiatives and how we can really use this power of collaboration to find innovative solutions. So we've had a real depth of discussion recently, but we're looking at the unlocking the tomorrow's renewable energy and efficiency gains today and listening to what everybody has said, Rasmus. I'll be looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this. Thank you, Ursula, and hello to everybody. So I'm Rasmus Valenko with the We Mean Business Coalition. The We Mean Business Coalition is essentially a group of organizations that work with business to drive climate leadership. We represent about 38 trillion in market cap through the companies that we work with across different initiatives around the world. And at the moment, by our count, we have just over 10,000 companies really leading this transition from the corporate sector. I wanna give just a couple of numbers in terms of the initiatives that we're working with. And the reason for this is that, we've moved from a phase of where companies are trying to do everything on their own to now a phase where they're collaborating very closely across their value chains to make change happen, to make some of these systemic changes that are needed happen. And from a key message, I think, going forward reflects a little bit what we've been hearing earlier which is that business can work across the value chain but moving forward to get to where we need to from a climate change perspective, business absolutely has to work with government and government has to work with business as well. So we represent a lot of companies and a couple of the key themes that we're seeing where we're seeing some very positive progress are of course on the energy side of things and as well as the transport side. At the moment, we already have over just about 400 companies around the world who represents the equivalents of electricity demand just a little bit larger than the UK. So that's a huge amount of electricity demand and consumption that these companies represent under RE100 which is led by the climate group together with the CDP. And what they've been doing is working again with other organizations like the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, and in Europe in particular with Wind Europe and Solar Power for Europe to drive the European Union's ambition on legislation. And we've been big supporters of the progressive voice in Europe and I think we've seen some excellent moves in the right forward which has basically unlocked the power of corporate procurement of renewables to really push the wave after what governments did in terms of putting in things like feed-in tariffs. So we've seen great momentum and exponential growth on the renewable side and we've heard some great examples already from Nina but maybe just to mention a couple, you know, you've got companies like Unilever or Signify who already in 2020 were running their full operations on 100% renewables. The other topic that I'd like to raise is mobility and we've seen a lot of activity in the passenger electric vehicle markets. EV100 has 129 companies that are helping to push the envelope and also advocate for more progressive policies in Europe and elsewhere. And we've got companies like Volvo who've committed to becoming a fully electric car company by 2030 and also going beyond just the actual drivetrain but looking at the embodied emissions in the vehicle as well working with companies like SSAB for fossil-free steel. So we're seeing a lot of uptake of technologies that will help us decarbonize. And I'd say the next chapter, and this again reflects what we've heard comments earlier is probably moving into other sectors as well, particularly heavy industry. There is now a competition about where these plants and jobs and essentially tax income is going to be located in the future. And it's only by business being able to work with governments that we can really unlock those investments that companies need to make in these countries. Now, I'd say that we have some great examples from some leading companies, but really if we're honest about the situation when we look globally at the global emissions, emissions are actually still rising even while we're seeing exponential growth in some of the solutions. So that's why I think that's a key role that organizations like us and the ones we work with need to have working with the EU government is really to push further and faster, not just for the leaders who've been unlocking some of these particular barriers, but also to bring the millions of companies who are starting or in the middle of their climate journey as well. And so three key things that are still needed in Europe is that we absolutely have to have a hundred percent decarbonized power system in place by 2035. At the same time, we can't have any new coal development or financing and also phase out coal power generation by 2030. And then finally, of course, a big piece of this and where the legislators have a huge opportunity as well is to phase out all of the fossil fuel subsidies by 2025. That's the only way we can make the equation match in terms of what we're seeing on the emissions actually still increasing globally. So that's a key role. I'd say one other thing which hasn't been mentioned yet, which I'd love to mention, which is just that of course we want to work closely with EU legislators on the EU portfolio. But at the same time, we have to recognize that the EU, as sustainability leaders, have a key role in the international environment as well. And the EU can play a huge role in forums like the UNFCCC, G7, G20 and pushing that international ambition forward as well. Because with this international piece, as well as the more domestic or regional EU piece, that we can create clarity and predictable legislative environments that will speed up the pace and the size of the investments that companies can and will make. Thank you, Ursula. And let me apologize, I understand that we've had connectivity issues and indeed an electricity cut, which was meant Ursula can't be seen or heard anymore. With that, thank you, Erasmus. And I suggest that we pass to our next speaker. And if Gonzalo is able to connect with us still, which I hope you are, then we pass over straight to you. So Gonzalo, in the hope that you are not cut off. Welcome, nice to see you. In more ways than one, indeed. Thank you very much, Martin. And good morning to everyone from Madrid. It's a real pleasure to participate in this extremely interesting and needed conversation. So from the Spanish Green Growth Group, I want to share with you some messages. We are facing several crisis at the same time. The climate crisis, the economic crisis, energy crisis, biodiversity crisis. So the origin of all these crisis is an energy model based on fossil fuels. And the solution to all of them is to replace urgently fossil fuels with renewable energy. First, developing more renewables in the power sector as a ways to decarbonize electricity, but also to replace fossil fuels in other sectors through electrification, such as transport or buildings. So 70% of the economy can be decarbonized with these measures that are already competitive. And second, where electrification is not possible, green hydrogen, we will need green hydrogen with incentives for production and demand to scale up and reduce its cost. So by replacing fossil fuels with renewables, with reinforced renewable targets in the renewable directive, this is extremely important, we will improve competitiveness, so reduction of energy bills. We will promote industrial development, create sustainable jobs, contribute to energy security. So this is a huge opportunity. So we are seeing very good news. So we have clean technology revolution and cost reduction, and not just in renewables, also in batteries, in heat pumps, in green hydrogen. Second, the energy crisis is accelerating the transition, so to improve energy security, to meet climate commitments and to lead the new economy from an industrial policy perspective. The third thing, positive development is that the international energy agency predicts that the peak of fossil fuels would be reached within this decade. And finally, some companies are committed. We are taking action, like the companies in the Corporate Group, in the Spanish Green Group, we are taking action, we are delivering solutions, but it's also true that others are putting a spoke in the wheel. But this increased acceleration with the current policy framework is not enough. We must reduce emissions drastically. So our view is that the technology exists, companies are ready to invest, the financial sector is ready to finance what we need is to scale climate-friendly solutions. And to this aim is key to four things. I think the first is to promote information and awareness among people. So it is essential that people understand why the energy transition is being undertaken and what the benefits and implications are. The second thing is that we need to set robust policies and regulation at national and European level that accelerate the transition in renewables, electric vehicles, heat pumps, industries. The fourth thing is we need to reinforce regulatory instability. So we must never lose sight of the long-term. Short-term decisions that are needed must be aligned with long-term objectives and should be based on a robust internal market. And finally, to streamline administrative procedures and permitting from clean energy and clean infrastructures. As a final remark, I want to highlight that moving towards an ambition and mission reduction pathways and accelerating the energy transition is urgent and is possible, but it's not easy. So in this respect, we think it's necessary to work in alliances. We are fully already engaged with a wide variety, multi-stakeholder alliances with environmental NGOs, with industries, but we will continue and strengthen our work in alliance that we think are fundamental. Not only are they important, but they are the only way, in our perspective, to move forward. Thank you very much. Thank you Ursula. Thank you so much, Gonzalo, and apologies, everybody. Interestingly, in an energy discussion, my electricity just cuts and has just returned. So yes, well, I guess this is the challenges that we have at the moment. So thank you so much. I'd like to move to André Borges. Thank you from Velac and also from a business network in the change called Change for the Better from the Czech Republic. Please go ahead, André. Yeah, thank you very much, Ursula. Good morning, everyone. As you may know, I'm representing here the region, which is not known as the biggest supporter of Green Deal or generally the green transition. But still, we have a lot of companies that see huge opportunities in the green transition. But in the past, we needed an organization that would put together fragmented companies. Actually, the idea, we started with the discussion of the idea during the first wave of COVID. You all remember those times, huge uncertainties, risk there, risk there, everywhere was dangerous, et cetera. And also our governments were working on protective measures also for business. And we felt that we should not focus only on protecting of current traditional business, but that we should take it as an opportunity, that we should support the transition and the transition for our economic in more sustainable way. We also know that the government needs a partner, needed a partner among the business because Czech Republic is well known for traditional business, I would say more carbon intensive business, et cetera. And also outside the Czech Republic, we felt that for example, European Parliament and European Commission would appreciate to have a partner in this region that would support those ideas of green transition and Green Deal. We of course know as a business that we should act and we should start acting ourselves. That is why we try to inspire in the organization our members, but not only other members inside the organization, but also to be inspiration for other stakeholders. We signed a lot of partnerships and agreements with other companies to find a way and solutions how to decrease our carbon footprint and our carbon emissions. Generally, I would say we also started a lot of cooperation with universities and non-governmental organizations. It is also key for finding solutions, but we also need as a business to inspire our customers and not only our partners, but our customers too and provide them with solutions. So we started to show them how they can, for example, renovate their houses and homes in sustainable way, how they can decrease the amount of waste. We try to provide them with the products with lower carbon intense, more intensive products. We also try to help them with the waste from our products, et cetera. So we need to provide, and we want to provide also our customers with the solutions and help them to decrease their impact on the environment. Of course, on this way, we need also help from the government. And I'm not talking about establishing the business environment in more sustainable way or about removing obstacles and barriers, but I'm mainly speaking about the holistic approach. As an example, I would mention here the current television of EPBD. We all know that the main goal is to decrease energy efficiency, sorry, improve energy efficiency, not to decrease it, but improve it. But for us and for people in Europe, it's a huge opportunity to improve also their comfort, their living quality, et cetera, because in Europe still 80 million people live in unhealthy conditions and renovation of their homes, it's a huge opportunity how to improve, to add indoor air quality, to increase the amount of daylight, et cetera. So we should utilize this possibility and not only focus on one aspect of this process, but still keep in mind other aspects of our policies. So to sum it up, I think, and I believe that crucial for the successful transition is cooperation and inspiration. And certainly it is the holistic approach of our policies. Thank you. Thank you, Andreine. And I can only echo the need for this collaboration as we move forward. Anna, Anna Strunabrega from Slovenia, if you would like to join us and also give your perspective from this region. Anna is the CEO of CER, Energy Sustainable Business Network, group of progressive companies and organizations in Slovenia. And we've worked very closely on a number of files in the period. Be interested in your perspective. Go ahead. Thank you Ursula for this invitation to this great event. It was really interesting to hear all previous speakers, big companies and policies, but I will speak today mostly in the name of the SMEs, because SMEs in Europe represent 99% of enterprises in Europe and probably also globally. They are huge contributor to economic growth and they employ two thirds of employees in Europe. They also have quite a big impact on the environment. That's why it's important also for them to understand the situation and to put the ambition on higher level. But they do need help because small companies actually do not have sustainability managers or teams, they lack capacities to follow this legislative tsunami. Even to read all these documents, they lack of finance to invest in green technologies because their primary job is probably many times something else, not energy efficiency renewables using these technologies. So they need help on this transition. I can say that they are also facing more and more pressures from the banks because the banks have to decarbonize their portfolio and they have to report about the intensity and also the taxonomy is coming which is more and more important. Many companies still do not understand why is it how it works, how to calculate and so the problem for the companies is to innovate new business models, to innovate new products and services. According to one of the last studies that we got in Slovenia, 89% of the companies in industry, they still have products that are older than 10 years. And they make more than 50% of profit from these products. So in seven years, because of new standards, these products will be probably out of stock because it will not be possible to sell them anymore. So what we see is that these companies need help and to work with bigger companies more intensively. So they also need a clear and stable policy to understand that it's safe to go on this road to get financial support, to get advice is how to do it. And the other thing is that organizations like we and HAGA initiatives and others that we are in this network, we can help them translating into simply more simplified versions, frameworks. So in CR, we decided to make a certificate for ESG rating and climate action of the companies. It's like a fast test, like it was in COVID, you could go through a fast test or PCR test. So we decided to make a fast test for the companies to go through the questionnaire, which is based on the international frameworks and standards for ESG rating and also a regulation. And what we noticed is that when we start asking them about the goals on the ESG, they said, because many times marketing departments were responsible for giving us the answers. They said, okay, we need, we cannot write this by ourselves. We need our CEO or financial directors to decide what are our goals and what actions will we take. And the next interesting thing was that actually the movement became inside the companies, engaging employees, raising competencies and finding new partners for these changes of the business models, finding new solutions. And we are really glad we keep this optimistic movement that changes can be done, but we have to know the environment, raise the ambitions, work with the policymakers, but really help companies to go on this transition, raise the competencies and keep positive, even though we are a little bit skeptic if we can achieve the goals by 2030, but every step comes. We need to, yeah, indeed, every step counts. Thank you so much for providing the SME viewpoint, Anna. I'll bring in Ruth quickly, Ruth Reichstein to respond to all of this. I know she doesn't have so much time. I think she's on audio, but Ruth is joining us for an idea. Hello, Ruth, can you hear us? Ruth, I think we may have to cut you off, unfortunately. I feel like all we can hear is trial version coming through. Perhaps it'd be great if we could have your comments. Maybe if you send them over, I could put them in the concluding remarks if you can hear me. In which case, I think perhaps what we could do is move to the next session. So I think broadly what we've heard from a number of the panellists is really the support for unlocking the transition, some questions about how exactly we do it, but the real need for alliances and for the long-term perspective. What we can move to next is a question more about the session, how we look at the competitive sustainability of the EU's economy and industry and how we can really improve this. So I'm happy to welcome Martin Porter, my colleague at CSL, the executive chair of the Brussels office to discuss more the question of competitiveness and how climate action and the mobilisation of green investments can increase the competitiveness of the industry. Thank you Ursula, and I hope that technology will allow this to run smoothly. This is obviously a topic which has risen very rapidly to the top of the EU political agenda and several other speakers have referenced this before, in particular the announcement made by President von der Leyen about a green deal industry plan and associated net zero industry act and all of the elements that go with that, which I'd like to give just a couple of minutes of context about before then offering a few thoughts on key areas in which the discussion about it and the follow-up to it, I think will benefit from a focus including the sort of discussions that we've had today. I guess by way of context, obviously the discussion has been triggered as several have said by the action of the US and its Inflation Reduction Act provisions centred on promoting many of the clean and climate neutral activities that we've been discussing here, which in itself is very welcome. And the European Council as a consequence of that called for a strategy to promote competitiveness and productivity as a result of that. What is key as an element of that response that we have seen is that the green deal is providing the strategic compass for that competitiveness strategy. And quite rightly so, if we look at the tests that EU has undergone in the past two or three years, starting with COVID, obviously more recently with the aggression towards Ukraine and now a wider economic crisis, the green deal has shown that it is enabling a response which integrates the different needs that we have in a way which delivers increased resilience, energy security and action on climate change and therefore also benefits European competitiveness. And that should continue. So it's quite right that that provides the strategic basis for this new strategy. We're also well aware now of the fact that what the US has done is underline the fact that what the EU has been seeking to do since 2015 and indeed before in leading this transition is to catalyze exactly this type of actions. It is indeed welcome that the US has taken this strong action now and it's not the only country of course to be doing so. So the EU's response needs to take into account not just the US action but obviously a global acceleration and indeed in what we're now seeing is a race to secure the sorts of climate neutral economic benefits that we have been arguing for and that many of the businesses involved in this have been pursuing for some time. That race has obviously hoted up and we're seeing much more competition as a result of that and the size of this market opportunity the IEA recently underlined is enormous. So how does the EU currently stand in relation to that race and what should it do to benefit from it? Well, how it stands in that race should not be a matter of starting from zero. There is much that the EU has done over the recent past in its strategy for competitive sustainability which actually positions it very well. We have released an index recently which looks to try to assess its performance in this respect and in many areas of the competitive performance in this transition the EU is doing much of what it needs to do. So the basis and the starting point that it is looking at this new plan from has many strong elements on which it should build. If I would highlight a few things where we need to focus now in just a couple of minutes more I think one area that in a strategy of competitive sustainability that should not be forgotten of course is the fact that we need collaboration not only as climate and sustainability obviously a global issue it's also something that requires common rules and collaboration as much as the dynamic of competition. Negotiation with the US to solve some of the issues that have arisen and partnerships for innovation and much beyond are obviously also essential in addition to the competitive dynamic which we're seeing. So the first thing is to underline the need for those types of collaborative as well as competitive dynamics to be secured. The second is to make sure that we keep our eyes on the longer term the strategic competitiveness dynamic here as much as the short term. That short term need obviously to some extent focuses on energy related issues but the longer term competitive needs are ones that the strategy has to emphasise at the same time. The third is that we see that there is a need not just for scale of investment and innovation but for pace. The more that this strategy is unlocking EU ability to do this urgently and rapidly the better and there are discussions obviously about state aid, new sovereignty fund and so on. Pace as much as scale is key. And then lastly I would say that clearly skills is an important dimension here that was mentioned President von der Leyen. The social as much as the economic component of this strategy is crucial. It's a bottleneck to the ability of the EU to scale up quickly but it's also a social imperative and the just transition is key to keep in mind whilst we're securing the competitive benefits of the transition. So as principles for this strategy I hope that those are good starting points and I'm sure that the businesses who will now speak will offer much of the example that we need to draw inspiration from as we go about this strategy. So Ursula back to you. I hope that sets the scene. Thank you Martin. Thank you for setting the scene. So from this we'd like to go to Sabine Nalinger the Managing Director of Stichtung Klima-Wirdschaft which is a climate initiative of CEOs, Managing Directors and Family Entrepreneurs based in Germany. I'm sure you have some really important thoughts on what Martin has said and how you see it from the German perspective. Sabine over to you. Yeah thank you so much Ursula for your kind introduction. Ladies and gentlemen dear colleagues it's my great pleasure to join you for this timely round table today and as the previous speakers has emphasized this event comes at a I would say key moment in time. Last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a Green Deal industrial plan as a European response to the significant dependency in crucial clean technologies from China and also the US Inflation Reduction Act and the fit for 55 negotiations are about to coming to an end. Major decisions like the revision of the ETS system have been taken last December and other major dossiers such as the Renewable Energy Directive are still being discussed and are expected to be finalized by the end of March this year. And not to forget the still ongoing energy crisis triggered by a Russian aggression against Ukraine. Martin just mentioned it which is not only causing unbearable suffering but putting our entire European economy and enormous pressure. And we at the Stiftung Klimawirtschaft the German CEO Alliance for Climate and Economy we are eager to play our part in this system. As a cross-sectoral CEO Alliance of 32 major German companies we engage in this important debates by bringing first together ambitious companies with policy makers and we provide for a sounding board for innovative ideas for the transformation towards climate neutrality and facilitate a platform for exchange among different stakeholders. I would say our companies stick to their climate targets and transition plans despite the current energy and geopolitical crisis. Things are now in motion that cannot be undone and the question is not longer if the question is now how quickly we will transfer our economy towards a net zero not only to stay within the limit of 1.5 degrees global warming but also for Europe to be the front runner for innovation and preserve our industries. The reality is we have now entered the race to net zero in which the winner will be retained a competitive economic advance for decades not for the next years for decades and so the crucial moment it is the European industry that is struggling the most with regards to the current high energy prices both China and the US risk to overtake us as leaders in the green transition at a moment when we actually want to increase our domestic industrial capacities and reduce our dependencies. This is the right moment I would say for the EU to pick up speed in the race to the top for decarbonization and the good news are we have the technologies needed for transformation we have the companies committed to go all the way to the way to net zero the European and German companies are the front runners in developing smart solutions for example energy storages, efficiency, electrification and renewable energy and our industrial companies for instance from the steel plant from cement or chemical sectors are leading the development of green basic materials they invest in green technology and in building the necessary capacity for solar and wind energy hydrogen and other critical technologies for the green transformation and what we need now is the right framework to implement these technologies access to cheap renewable energy I think it's a major point and green hydrogen will determine the attractiveness for our companies for investing in the European economy and it is essential to overcome the current barriers by accelerating the development of renewable energy by scaling up a European hydrogen market by speeding up permitting processes and by providing the necessary funding not only for innovation and cupex but also for development sorry about that and opex costs so what we need is now to support our industry and develop an effective European industrial strategy not just since the inflation reduction act has increased the pressure on Europe to act faster now and more sizes to support our industrial transformation we have now to make use of this moment it's a real moment now to accelerate the green transformation so we welcome the commission president's proposal of a net zero industry act that we will support the scaling of clean technology in Europe the new industrial and sovereignty strategy has to stimulate investments and accelerate the transformation significantly for that we need I would say three things first we need more flexibility in supporting the industrial transformation by adapting state rail rules second we have to preserve the integrity of our European single markets for Europe wide funding instruments and third for all this the implementation to be much faster and much more pragmatic than it may have been in the past so EU commissioner Terry Breton and Margaret Festiger have put forward promising proposals such as revising EU state aid rules or setting up a new sovereignty fund we now urgently need I would say a holistic European strategy for sustainable competitiveness coupled with the right incentive mechanism to accelerate innovation the westman and industrial production capacity for clean energies and at last we need to find the right balance competition and cooperation in Europe and with our partners and so also in this spirit there's no time to lose on implementation let's jointly make sure to walk the talk and thank you and I'm looking forward for the discussion thank you so much thank you Sabine and I think this point on implementation is absolutely critical I know this is one of the things that Ruth wanted to bring in earlier as well now we have to move to implementation so if we could move also to Björn now Björn Haagaland who's the chief executive officer for the business leaders he would like he will bring a view from Norway in fact about how to stimulate these green investments which is part of the part of how we implement part of how we move forward so please go ahead Björn thank you and thank you for all the introduction and thank you for you who are part of EU who are driving this progress forward so now you will hear a peaceful voice from from Norway and in that respect I would say and remind us that in order to succeed on the climate change agenda we will have to collaborate with the US we will have to collaborate with China because we cannot fight our way to a global decarbonisation of the world we will only succeed together so that is just the setting from from our side in order to stimulate the green investments it's three priorities which we here in Norway work with our government to do that is to set clear priorities to communicate the targets well ahead so the business sector can adopt and then obviously put in instruments that facilitate the transition shift is working with 60 of the Norwegian climate leaders which are progressive working together to collaborate and share inspiration and knowledge and definitely also working very close with our government and we have three priorities we work with our governments on first and foremost to set up price on the mission secondly to really use the public procurement facility to facilitate for more green markets for for Norwegian business sector and thirdly to enforce climate reporting in the sense that we would like to see climate reporting at the same level as financial reporting we have to count carbon as we count money so that is the three priorities we are working on and then we're closing by just bringing forward a few examples on how this play out in practical so now I have decided a step wise increase of the CO2 price to 200 euro in 2030 so that is a broad political agreement on and that means that the business sector is has predictability on how we will accommodate that increase in carbon pricing and that is essential to drive the transition of the Norwegian economy secondly we have today 80 percent of our new electric cars are electric the government have said by 2025 it will not be allowed to sell fossil fuel cars in Norway so we will reach 100 percent probably we will reach that target before 2025 so my point is to set this very clear target we do the shift very rapidly I just told the EU target to be 2035 I will encourage you to speed up that transition thirdly for the shipping sector the government have said target of banning fossil fuel ships into the world heritage fjords by 2026 that was done a couple of years back meaning that the industry are now developing all the solutions in order to meet that target and finally in Norway we have around 200 ferries which is crucial for our infrastructure again we do together with the government and their public procurement procedures set zero emission target for for new ferries coming into the market and by today we have half of the ferry fully electric meaning 80 fully electric ferries in in Norway so I will just end my note by that set clear priorities set clear targets a little bit ahead of time and then work with public procurement and order facilities in order to drive the investments in the right direction thank you so much thank you Bjorn so that was a really interesting view from Norway as to how this is working on the ground if I could bring in Yvonne and Peter to respond to the discussion that would be great Yvonne are you there and Peter Wittuck who is from the the Belgian Climate Change Department Yvonne do you have some comments I know we've covered a lot of grounds it'd be great to hear some of the things that have come across to you in these in these discussions yeah thanks Ursula and thanks for giving me the opportunity again to comment a little bit on what we've been hearing it's been extremely interesting and of course also very reassuring to hear but you have the progressive business in your event there may be others out there that you know do see challenges and have concerns and anxiety maybe every now and then I heard Anna from Souvenia saying can we make it in seven years so of course there is a challenge but we are very very happy to have the frontrunners to lead the way I think Pascal Confin was also saying you know if we can show in specific cases that things work and that people are you know investing and making the effort to see how to do this of course in conjunction with you know specific policies that give that predictability and that give the support that will for sure make a difference in terms of you know convincing everybody else and that is within Europe but also globally so I was very happy to hear you know that there is almost a full consensus that there needs to be this cooperation collaboration let's say between companies but what Andre was saying was also very interesting you know within your supply chain within your value chain I think others were saying it Anna as well in terms of you know SMEs taking them on board because that is what we really need in order to you know bring everybody on board and make this just transition I very much also agree that you know we need to communicate better on the different benefits and I think this is still because sometimes people also perceive you know the targets etc as being imposed and they indeed raise all these you know concerns and threats and the materials aren't there the workforce isn't there but it is about you know how do we make the necessary steps in order to get there and that's where I do think that you know this cooperation also with governments and with other authorities and I think the public procurement points that let me just see where was I Yeah the purin was just making is also a very important one and I think we need to look at that also in the context of our industrial competitiveness plan at EU level to see what can be done there I think you may have noticed that in the whole negotiations on cars but also on well having duty vehicles as I said is for a little bit later but I mean there is consideration also about you know maybe putting in place some measures that could stimulate a corporate car fleet to move towards more electrical vehicles or let's say low emission vehicles so these are very very important reflections and for me it is all about you know tapping into your know how because listening to all of us this morning I'm again of the impression that you know we know what you know we know what we need to do we know how you know bleak our future will be if we don't do it within Europe but also if we don't manage to inspire the rest of the world staying at the top of this race indeed as Sabine was just saying it will not be a very rosy situation both in terms of competitiveness but also in terms of you know our own prosperity you know the social impacts the health impacts etc etc and I think by that all that by now is known there are very few people who actually contest that but it is really the question around the how you know the short time frame we have the need to showcase this how and again you know crucial to have all these companies explaining to us and them in these alliances taking on board the others that this is feasible and what are the requirements needed from governments from policy from funding instruments etc etc in order to speed this up so I think it has been an extremely interesting session lots more to be done yes that is also clear I just wanted to flag we have a few how shall I call it initiatives also at EU lever where we would be keen to get more involvement from from companies and I wanted to draw your attention to the climate pact which is where we work with you know people in all the member states who can convey all these messages who can reach out to citizens who can tap into solutions that are there on the ground and multiply you know again also in terms of you know people's awareness understanding visibility of solutions etc so that will be very useful if we can work with you on that there will be a high level event it's the first of February so that's next week online and physical events I can send the link if anybody wants and then we have these missions under the big research program of the EU so Horizon Europe we have a mission on on climate neutral cities where by 2030 we have a whole set of cities that have signed up to become climate neutral but of course they're also like you know still in the process of seeing okay how do I do this how do I tap the different funds so how do I get the necessary policy tools in place and also a mission on adaptation and resilience so there again by 2030 how far can we be in making sure that all the necessary investments at the same time ensure climate resilience because whatever we do in terms of speeding up emission reductions of course we already see the impact of climate happening so yeah we are very happy to tap into your know how to work with you and with the member states you know to to really make this happen speed up and make sure we can move on to the next step which is again you know next targets you know and we continue on that basis I'll leave it there for now thanks thanks Ebon and feel free to drop the link in the big chat that would be fine and okay so Peter I thank you for your patience I know there's been a huge set of discussions and Peter is joining us from the climate change department in the in Belgium and of course your presidency is also not so far off as well but what are your views on the discussion that so far been taking place yes good good morning well let me thank you first for inviting me to this this well very interesting conversation very useful as well to to note what is is living with the frontrunners the progressives in industry in Europe also in anticipation of our presidency of the European Union which is indeed advancing at a quick pace I would say we're starting in less than a less than a year but I don't really have much to add to the conversation content-wise so let me just share a number of things that that struck struck me we've we've been focusing to a to a large extent and I think we have reason to be optimistic there on developments over the last couple of years on the Dave von der Leyen legislator commission on on on what's happening within the European Union and I think we have good reasons to be to be very optimistic with all that's been going on Yvonne went into into into detail on on on well this success that I would have thought I've been around for a couple of decades now in terms of climate policy five years ago I would have thought that would be totally impossible so that's reason to be very optimistic I think both in terms of our contribution to the climate transition also in terms of the competitiveness of EU companies many of which are are indeed front runners but not every not everyone yet of course and then the whole policy framework with fit for 55 repower the European climate law resource and resilience facility but also the whole framework around sustainable finance I think will be will be will be will provide to be enough reassurance is to remain optimistic there but there is as as one of the speaker said also reason not to be over confidently optimistic because the European Union that's a good thing in a way only represents less than 10% of worldwide emissions and there are still on on the rise science tells us in the recent IPCC report to be able to not exceed the one and a half degree rise in temperature emissions globally have to peak before well before 2025 that's in two years time that's one thing the other thing is that and that's probably caused by by the polly crisis we're in right right now that we've seen I'm also involved in the international negotiations at at Chabnosech notably that there is huge and before that there is still huge resistance against political messages headline messages which are basically common knowledge in terms of well where we have to go things like phasing out of fossil fuels that proved to be impossible at Chabnosech even though India have proposed it even though 80 countries including the EU and the US major actors were in favor that kind of political headline messages are still impossible to agree upon on the international level and that is that is worrying of course because there we're talking about the other 90% of worldwide worldwide emissions and proceeded by for example the the G20 late summer 2022 being unable to to repeat what was agreed upon in Glasgow as regards the 1.5 targets a good thing I heard about I learned about actually through this meeting mainly is that we're now in a situation where we're in a race you know caused by by the the inflation reduction act a race to attract green investments between the EU and the United States and hopefully other major economies worldwide as well that is a big challenge but I think is a reason to be optimistic as well in terms of getting the whole globalized economy on board getting the whole globalized economy to respect the often forgotten third objective of the Paris agreement to align all finance flows with the temperature objectives the objective to be to be climate resilient et cetera et cetera now since well we're gathered here in government representatives and representatives of businesses I I have a question for debates basically we heard Pasquale qu'enfin states how instrumental frontrunner businesses have been in agreeing notably on the two dossiers he mentioned CO2 cars and and what was it important deforestation so I think an interesting reflection would be is how European companies through of course extending their market share globally can can contribute to more well less global resistance against the climate transition but also in terms of their their role as international actors more more generally that's that's a question I think we should ask ourselves there was a lot of a do about the presence of fossil fuel lobbies in Charm El-Sheikh but many many other companies are there as well and they are showcasing and they are they are present in in that forum but they don't seem to have the same impact on what's happening globally than the the the mentioned representatives of the of the fossil fuel industry so that's that's a question I basically have for reflection to to you people one element that is crucial I think also when we reflect about the role of business in the climate transition and which is not only crucial in terms of the social imperative as someone called it just transition but it's also something we have to deal with if we don't want to create a bottle neck for a sustainably competitive European European industry and that is the matter of just transition jobs upskilling and re-skilling I think that is something that would require a lot of focus as well it will by the way be be one of the priorities of our own presidency and I'll end with highlighting a couple of a couple of those it's still early days of course to to be able to give you any further any further details but also priorities like the one on reflecting on the European Union's industry strategy I think becomes well closer to the center I would say of our political radar now that we're reflecting on the presidency especially with the announced net zero industry act and other elements of that package and we'll be looking also at the circular economy the transition towards the circular economy which is essential in many many aspects to be able to realize the climate transition I will also flag the link with biodiversity that was raised by a couple of the speakers and then to end also say that would come as no surprise we are an SME economy to a very large extent as many European countries we would also be looking at a revision of the SME strategy also in this broader context I hope of the of the climate transition and I'll end there and thank you again for giving me this opportunity Yeah, thank you Peter I don't know if you have any comments on this I think one thing I would just say we had Ruth Ruth's comments earlier that she couldn't make and one of the things she really said was they will be talking a lot about the inflation reduction act and the the green deal net industry plan net zero industry plan that is coming but what we're going to hear in the next few weeks is really before February even before the European special accounts on February will be simply speed up and invest so do work simply speed up and invest and really the real need for a lot of different implementation and I mean I don't know if on if you'd like to to respond to any of the points that that Peter made there Thanks Ursula Thanks Peter very points very pertinent points as you said Ursula yes and again it links back to what I was saying before I think there is no question on the what you know people know they need to invest they there is this I think fairly broadly shared desire in society to to act but there are all these bottlenecks so how do we do it and I think the simplification and the speeding up notion is also broadly supported and that's what we will be looking at in this industrial plan at the same time it does still have a dimension of acceptability and I think what Peter was saying and others as well before Bjorn etc it's you know the visibility of the solutions is still you know can still be improved yes we look at Norway in terms of you know what they're doing in terms of electrical vehicles but people say ah that can't be replicated in Romania or in Bulgaria although of course there are an enormous amount of funds I just wrote in the chat but not to all but between the the panelists that you know for example there is a European social fund and here is of course where member states should target the money of in that fund towards preparing the workforce for these new skills that are required and you kind of would have expected that this was already clear quite a few years ago and that therefore in the plans this would have come through but what we see when we look at it I mean this is of course led by digital employment but we don't see it so there still seems to be a disconnect you know in terms of what is needed what is feasible and and bringing all this together I heard a lot of your speakers talk about the holistic approach I very much agree Peter I was wondering and of course you have your your view towards the presidency and that is of course very very good and useful but also as a member state I mean you you probably have views on you know what does it take the long-term versus the short-term you know how do we talk about yes energy security right now but nevertheless promote and support these these more mid to long-term investments I think from the side of the EU for example we we deal with one of these funds and that is the the the innovation fund that is funded by by revenues from from the ETS so we see excellent proposals by the energy intensive industry coming forward it will be first of the kind projects but they can be scaled up it can be replicated of course until they have become commercially viable and can stand on their own feet but this will mean that those kind of you know green cement or low carbon cement green steel etc can start to be rolled out across Europe but it is also the more how shall I say smaller scale things that need to be happening and I mean where again the visibility is it's not always there you know that this is not as complicated as people fear and and and see I mean your electricity has was not a good no it was an excellent feature you know this is what people fear so the more we can go out there and explain that you know it won't be overnight but nevertheless there are all kinds of very good solutions out there that can be scaled up that can be speeded up I think the more the acceptability will will grow because I think there is the momentum there is a lot of readiness now in the population to say okay we also want to to contribute and do our share but but these things we need to bring together together with the planning by the authorities to say okay we are going to bundle all the different funding streams and the regulation that is out there the predictability the clarity and and do it because yeah I think it brings us back to what Martin was saying since now he's put his camera on he's here yeah he's here communicating and again not just between us you know but between those that need to be brought in contact with all these solutions there is a lot of private money also and with inflation of course the one the upside of one upside of inflation is that you know people want to invest I have a colleague her daughter is in Argentina and we she heard from the people there they're just spending spending this is one way to to spend you know so we need to yeah communicate more and and and bring the solutions to the society and and basically sure keep on you know build and and and strengthen this acceptability in order to to make it happen on the ground because otherwise I think we will experience a backlash and of course he's going to be next winter we all know that so before then I would say we really need to see some some real impact on the ground action impact on the ground no indeed Yvonne and I know Martin wants to respond to one of the points made and also we've had a question about whether is this possible can we really do this together can we do can we given all the planetary boundaries can we move ahead on competitiveness so Martin I don't know if you want to round us off with a response to some of this and to that and then I think we'll have to bring this session to a close but a quick point from you Martin go ahead yeah I'll be as brief as I can I think the question about the planetary boundaries goes back to what economic model what model of development are we trying to pursue when we're talking about competitive industry or competitive economies and I think there the way we talk about and understand competitiveness has to reflect we're now in an economy that is in transition towards a sustainable model of development and therefore we have to change the way we not just think about but measure performance in that context taking into account planetary boundaries notably climate change but also it was mentioned by Peter biodiversity circular economy resource use and so on the model I mentioned that we've developed see ourselves the competitive sustainability index uses the commission's competitive sustainability framework and seeks to integrate in just a way of onset a holistic way a means of measuring that if we don't measure it we will keep misaligning and there are I'm happy to say from the model we've developed lots of positive trade-offs you don't have to sacrifice one thing for another there is a lot of social benefit as we know well to many of these changes we need to scale up the investment speed simplification and scale exactly as was said as is key to this economically but there's a lot that we can do better in measuring in order that we do those things in practice well quickly too so I'll just leave it at that if I may so thank you everybody we've hit the end of it thank you for your patience it's been a classic online meeting with all the things that that brings so I just like to end by saying yes absolutely we support all these remarks about how we should be a global leader in sustainability we believe we have support from businesses we really see the momentum also across the world and to your point Peter I think we're ready to be very present at some of these big moments internationally we see the need for alignment and cooperation and we really look forward to working in alliances with all of you to drive forward some of these big questions as we move forward this year and we hope to look hope to keep this discussion moving this was the second in a series that we've been having with these these global these business networks across Europe and so we look forward to continuing this discussions and I'm keeping in touch as as this year develops so thank you everybody for your patience thank you for joining us and and look forward to speaking to you all soon thank you thank you bye