A controversial international energy pact could soon be a thing of the past after the EU unveiled a plan to exit the agreement. Fabian Flues joins the show to explain what the Energy Charter Treaty is and why it is so divisive
Elevate your listening experience, try our app – iOS / Android
For the best possible audio experience, listen to Policy Dispatch in the FORESIGHT app. If you don’t already have the app, download it from the App Store or Google Play. Use your FORESIGHT login details to access the app.
The Energy Charter Treaty has been referred to as a “relic of the past” and “a chimaera of the energy industry” during the three decades it has been in force. Many see it as a crutch for the fossil fuel sector and an unnecessary weight that is dragging down the green transition. Some countries have signalled their intent to leave the agreement, Italy has already left and others are in the process of considering their options. In July, the executive branch of the European Union proposed that the 27-member bloc should exit the treaty en masse. So what is going on?
This week, Fabian Flues, investment policy lead at PowerShift, joins the show to explain why the ECT is so divisive and why the green transition could accelerate by consigning the agreement to the past. He also suggests that this might be a death knell for the ECT, as it might not be able to survive without EU countries as members. Could this be an important milestone in the journey towards net-zero?
Enjoy the show!
If you have any thoughts or questions about anything that has been discussed in this week’s episode, you can reach us at our Twitter accounts:
PowerShift
Sam Morgan
@Policy Dispatch
FORESIGHT Climate & Energy
Listen and subscribe to Policy Dispatch wherever you get podcasts. Follow us on Twitter at @Policy Dispatch or email us at show@policydispatch.com
Set up at the end of the Cold War, the Energy Charter Treaty, without significant reform, is now largely irrelevant and doing more harm than good to the energy transition, argues Sarah Keay-Bright, independent consultant and previously expert at the Energy Charter Secretariat
Energy Cities, a European association of local authorities, estimates a city will need between €1 billion and €3 billion to reach net zero emissions by 2050
Ahead of proposals this week by the European Commission for EU industrial policy and circular economy strategies, Christian Westermeier, President of SolarPower Europe, argues for solar to receive the boost it needs to help Europe achieve its carbon neutral ambitions
The structure of the European Union’s 15-year-old carbon trading market is long overdue for an update if it is to keep pace with growing national ambitions to halt climate-destroying activity and geopolitical shifts
Border carbon adjustments (BCAs) are technically difficult to design and politically challenging to implement. If BCAs are going to succeed, the European Union (EU) will need to engage trade partners from the start, says E3G’s Johanna Lehne
The European Union is deciding which technologies and projects should have access to crucial funding. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology has its issues but some lawmakers and industries believe emission reduction targets cannot be met without it
The European Union’s “Energy Efficiency First Principle” was designed to maximise the potential of energy sources and increase investor appetite but it has struggled to jump from principle to practice. But new rules and a shift in geopolitics look set to propel the efficiency maxim to top billing
Clean energy technology is becoming more efficient and powerful, while more money than ever is seemingly flowing into renewables. But administrative barriers thrown up by red tape and permitting bottlenecks threaten to put a damper on the energy transition
Regulators normally only keep tabs on the climate-bashing emissions produced within a country’s territory—discounting or even completely ignoring the carbon emitted during the manufacturing and shipping of imported goods. Sweden is bucking that trend with an ambitious new policy
The cost of the energy transition as it stands is astronomical. But the returns are even greater. The longer investment targets are missed and policy frameworks are neglected, the pathway to a decarbonised economy becomes longer and more expensive. Added support for the developing world is also needed
As the energy landscape changes, so too could the geopolitical spectrum. Nations that have derived power and wealth from coal, oil and gas face an adapt-or-die moment while countries with the natural resources central to decarbonisation could find themselves holding more cards
A tumultuous past 12 months has seen energy security placed firmly at the centre of many discussions around the world. Improving security takes many forms from low-carbon generation to greater energy efficiency in a bid to lower demand. These topics feature in FORESIGHT's top articles of 2022
Demand for electric vehicle batteries in Europe is accelerating thanks to a mix of new regulations and promising business cases, which has sparked a homegrown industry that aims to take on the world. But the policies will need to be strong enough to fend off the vagaries of geopolitics
As the wind blows, the sun shines, and green generation rises, demand is saturated. Market prices fall, but renewables are caught cannibilasing their own investment case. Special report part 1/3
Cities are key enablers of the energy transition. But each city in every area of the world will have a different set of priorities and ideas of how to achieve net-zero by 2050. FORESIGHT examines a city from each continent—and a research station—to show what this global action looks like from seven different perspectives
Leave a Reply