Tuesday, 5 October 2010, the European
Youth Energy and Environment Platform kicked off the debate on EU
energy issues at its launch conference “my energy, my world, my future”
in the European Parliament. The Conference was inaugurated by Gaston
Franco, Member of the European Parliament, who underlined that the
Lisbon Treaty gives a European legal basis for energy innovation,
establishing however that “solidarité n´est pas
uniformité”. Isabelle Muller, Secretary General of EUROPIA,
which sponsors the initiative, asserted the role of the platform as “a
forum for young people to explore and debate” and to become the voice
of the young generation on energy and environment issues.
Jeannette Patell, Second Secretary of the Mission of Canada to the EU, explained how Canada is adapting its energy sector into one based upon clean and green energy. Energy efficiency is extremely important given the vast land of the country (2nd largest in the world) and the extreme weather conditions. She described how adaptation policies are helping to create “green jobs” and have saved “approximately 23 billion Canadian Dollars between 1990 and 2007 in our country”. Canada has established funds for 1 Billion Canadian Dollars to support SMEs investing in renewable energy, an example that should be taken by all major governments who care about our future.
Stephen Boucher, Program Director of the European Climate Foundation, challenged actors to follow a new model of clean energy: “Why don´t we act? There are huge opportunities! We have to move beyond ‘The Age of the Stupid´ [as described by the 2009 British film] into ‘The Age of the Smart`”. Citing various studies he then analyzed and compared different scenarios for the carbon market and climate change abatement. The potential of the carbon market is already significant and is expected to increase in the coming years. Mr Boucher therefore urged European businesses to invest into low carbon technologies with the aim of improving their competitiveness which would also create new green jobs.
Reza Zain Jaufeerally, Executive Director of TIE Brussel (The Indus Entrepreneurs) focused on the importance of finding solutions to make clean energy entrepreneurship more affordable, especially in India: “Only with good laws and finance is it possible to create green jobs”. He agreed the need for change in corporate philosophy, so as to see profits in terms of health and security, as well as economics: “there is a crisis of entrepreneurship in Europe, where failure in business is seen as a big stigma, when for example in Silicon Valley [USA] they do not have this problem: the most important thing is to try it”. With respect to low carbon future, he concluded that entrepreneurs will not invest into projects which will not gain profit, a fundamental issue to be kept in mind when encouraging green innovation.
Danila Bochkarev, Fellow for the Global Security team and the EastWest Institute, talked about the energy model in Russia, which focuses on efficiency at the cost of improving green energy. In his presentation, he compared the different approaches to energy security between Russia and the Western world. While the European Union moves towards greater liberalization and free trade, Russia gives priority to unconditional state sovereignty over its natural resources and protects its market from outside interventions. He then concluded that this division is unlikely to change now or ever in the future arguing that Russia will never compromise their “energy-nationalism”.
Fraser Cameron, Moderator and Director of the EU-Russia Centre, exposed how China is changing its energy model into one where greener alternatives play an increasingly important role.
Andrea Gerosa, Chief Thinker at ThinkYoung led the wrap-up and conclusions. He remarked upon the importance of young people’s participation in new energy initiatives and lobbying platforms. Europe is the leader in the care about the environment and we should work hard to keep this leadership and the leadership in energy development, as this is what young people call for. The call for energy is for politicians, who should have energy on top of their agenda; it is also a call for entrepreneurs as there are many possibilities for start-ups in this field; and it is therefore a call for young people themselves, as now with “my energy, my world, my future” they have the platform, it is in their interest to make use of it.
MEP Franco closed the conference with these words: “Parler d’énergie est parler de bien être, est parler de puissance, est parler d’indépendance”.
The next conference of the platform “my energy, my world, my future” (www.myewf.eu) will take place on the 30th.
Jeannette Patell, Second Secretary of the Mission of Canada to the EU, explained how Canada is adapting its energy sector into one based upon clean and green energy. Energy efficiency is extremely important given the vast land of the country (2nd largest in the world) and the extreme weather conditions. She described how adaptation policies are helping to create “green jobs” and have saved “approximately 23 billion Canadian Dollars between 1990 and 2007 in our country”. Canada has established funds for 1 Billion Canadian Dollars to support SMEs investing in renewable energy, an example that should be taken by all major governments who care about our future.
Stephen Boucher, Program Director of the European Climate Foundation, challenged actors to follow a new model of clean energy: “Why don´t we act? There are huge opportunities! We have to move beyond ‘The Age of the Stupid´ [as described by the 2009 British film] into ‘The Age of the Smart`”. Citing various studies he then analyzed and compared different scenarios for the carbon market and climate change abatement. The potential of the carbon market is already significant and is expected to increase in the coming years. Mr Boucher therefore urged European businesses to invest into low carbon technologies with the aim of improving their competitiveness which would also create new green jobs.
Reza Zain Jaufeerally, Executive Director of TIE Brussel (The Indus Entrepreneurs) focused on the importance of finding solutions to make clean energy entrepreneurship more affordable, especially in India: “Only with good laws and finance is it possible to create green jobs”. He agreed the need for change in corporate philosophy, so as to see profits in terms of health and security, as well as economics: “there is a crisis of entrepreneurship in Europe, where failure in business is seen as a big stigma, when for example in Silicon Valley [USA] they do not have this problem: the most important thing is to try it”. With respect to low carbon future, he concluded that entrepreneurs will not invest into projects which will not gain profit, a fundamental issue to be kept in mind when encouraging green innovation.
Danila Bochkarev, Fellow for the Global Security team and the EastWest Institute, talked about the energy model in Russia, which focuses on efficiency at the cost of improving green energy. In his presentation, he compared the different approaches to energy security between Russia and the Western world. While the European Union moves towards greater liberalization and free trade, Russia gives priority to unconditional state sovereignty over its natural resources and protects its market from outside interventions. He then concluded that this division is unlikely to change now or ever in the future arguing that Russia will never compromise their “energy-nationalism”.
Fraser Cameron, Moderator and Director of the EU-Russia Centre, exposed how China is changing its energy model into one where greener alternatives play an increasingly important role.
Andrea Gerosa, Chief Thinker at ThinkYoung led the wrap-up and conclusions. He remarked upon the importance of young people’s participation in new energy initiatives and lobbying platforms. Europe is the leader in the care about the environment and we should work hard to keep this leadership and the leadership in energy development, as this is what young people call for. The call for energy is for politicians, who should have energy on top of their agenda; it is also a call for entrepreneurs as there are many possibilities for start-ups in this field; and it is therefore a call for young people themselves, as now with “my energy, my world, my future” they have the platform, it is in their interest to make use of it.
MEP Franco closed the conference with these words: “Parler d’énergie est parler de bien être, est parler de puissance, est parler d’indépendance”.
The next conference of the platform “my energy, my world, my future” (www.myewf.eu) will take place on the 30th.