Unlocking Innovation to Facilitate a Low-Carbon Industry in Europe - Berlin Seminar on Energy and Climate Policy (BSEC)

Long-term decarbonization of the European economy requires technological innovation in all sectors. Key industries in Europe (and globally) are faced with the challenge to change their processes and products to reduce direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions from their operations. They do so against the background of international competition and volatile energy markets around the globe - and debates on the climate and energy policy beyond 2020 in the EU and the UN. A variety of industrial sectors (such as cement, pulp & paper, chemical industry) have recently developed sector specific roadmaps outlining their potential solutions.

This event was the first seminar after the BSEC summer break, and it was intended to address two fundamental questions:

• What are technological options exist to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from  energy intensive industries?
• Which policy instruments are necessary to unlock this technological innovation?

Tomas Wyns, Director of the Brussels office of the Centre for Clean Air Policy (CCAP), provided an overview of existing sector roadmaps and talked about implications for EU policy design through 2030 and 2050. His presentation [pdf, 1.77 MB, English] is available for download.

Dr. Karsten Neuhoff, Head of climate protection at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), presented initial insights from a research project (undertaken by the Climate Strategies Academic Network) that is looking specifically at greenhouse gas reductions in the cement industry.

Dr. Antonio Pflüger, Head of unit for climate change at the Federal Ministry for the Economy and Technology (BMWI), responded to the presentations from the perspective of the regulator.

Matthias Duwe (Head of the climate team at Ecologic Institute) welcomed the participants, introduced the topic and moderated the discussion.

The discussion between the audience and the panelists focused on how effective push and pull instruments are in triggering innovation, and the pros and cons of strengthening the EU ETS and/or deploying additional means of support for further action in the relevant sectors that should be kept in mind.

BSEC is a joint initiative sponsored by Ecologic Institute, the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), the German Institute of Economic Research (DIW), the Öko-Institut, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), and the Technical University of Berlin (TU). BSEC offers a forum where one can exchange ideas with selected experts on policy developments and research findings in the broad field of climate and energy. The BSEC was launched in October 2009.