Event Date: Monday, 15 May 2023, 09:00 – Friday, 19 May 2023, 18:00

The CEE Sustainable Finance Summit is the largest specialised event focused on sustainability in finance and business in Central and Eastern European (CEE) region. It aims to ignite discussions about what opportunities sustainable finance and a pivot to sustainability integration offer to the wider region. It represents a unique opportunity for the region’s stakeholders to gain more insight into sustainable finance topics, and solutions to share knowledge, and to get support for the challenges they face.

The Summit is hosted by like-minded organisations from the region, inviting senior decision makers from the private sector, finance, policymaking, and experts from various fields to join the discussion about how to unleash the potential of sustainable finance.

This Summit also serves as a space for networking and exchange between the different countries of the region.

The Summit showcases best practices in business and finance, and offers access to a unique range of experts and professionals working on the EU Green Deal, Fit for 55 Package, Sustainable Finance Agenda (EU Taxonomy, SFDR, CSRD, and Green Bond Standards). The 2021 and 2022 editions of the Summit saw thousands of online viewers, over 800,000 social media impressions, and hundreds of in person attendees.

If you’d like to partner with us please email partnerships@ceesummit.org

Register for updates here.

Among other sectors, heavy industry faces significant challenges in transforming and aligning with international and European climate targets. Some 18% of the EU’s emissions originate from the production of basic materials like steel, cement, lime, and chemicals. A substantial part of Europe’s production of these materials takes place in industrial clusters in North-Western Europe. The ARRRA (Antwerp-Rotterdam-Rhine-Ruhr Area) cluster produces 40% of all chemicals in Europe. Steel and cement companies also show a high degree of regional integration. The mutual interdependence of companies operating in the cluster translates into everyday needs and similar emissions reduction challenges.

To act on climate change, fulfil their societal role, and stay competitive in the future, companies in the ARRRA cluster must comply with the net-zero and circularity objectives of the European Green Deal. Given its highly interconnected nature, the cluster needs a renewed joint strategy toward net-zero emissions in 2050 for all sectors. The cross-border nature of some of these industries calls for cross-border government efforts to decarbonise.

This conference will focus on how The Netherlands, Belgium and North Rhine-Westphalia can collaborate to speed up the decarbonisation of the ARRRA cluster; one of the biggest industrial conglomerations in Europe. In the morning, the event will feature discussions on the different industrial decarbonisation policies, the most significant challenges, and how to realise cross-border infrastructure. In the afternoon, we will bring together expert speakers to review different tools to decarbonise industry.

• 9:00: Registration
• 9:20: Welcome – Jonas Helseth, Director, Bellona Europa

Part 1: Challenges of industrial decarbonisation

• 9:30: Industrial climate policy in Flanders – Jo Brouns, Flemish Minister, Economy, Innovation, Work, Social Economy and Agriculture
• 9:45: Realising the EU Green Deal: the need for industrial decarbonisation and cross-border  collaboration – Tomas Wyns, Senior Researcher, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
• 10:15: Realising the necessary infrastructure projects – Steven Van Caekenberghe, Head of H2 and CO2 program, Fluxys
• 10:30: Coffee break & networking

Part 2: National policies in the ARRRA cluster

• 11:00: Industrial climate policy in the Netherlands – Tom Mikunda, Senior Policy Advisor, Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy
• 11:15: Industrial climate policy in Belgium – Maxime Saliez, Policy Advisor, Belgian federal  Ministry of Energy
• 11:30: Industrial climate policy in North Rhine-Westphalia – Dr Michael Walther, Team Leader, NRW.Energy4Climate’s industry department
• 11:45: Panel discussion with Tom Mikunda, Maxime Saliez and Dr Michael Walther (moderator: Laurien Spruyt, Senior Climate and Industry Policy Manager, Bellona Europa)
• 12:30: Lunch break

Part 3: Technologies to realise net-zero emissions in industry

• 13:30: CCU and accounting of emissions – Dr Andrea Ramírez Ramírez, Professor of Low Carbon Systems and Technologies in the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands
• 14:15: CCS governance model in the Netherlands – Tom Mikunda, Senior Policy Advisor, Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy & Michelle Prins, Programme Lead on Sustainable Industries, Natuur & Milieu
• 15:00: Coffee Break
• 15:30: Role of ports as hydrogen and circular economy hubs – Tycho Van Hauwaert, Policy  Officer on Industry and Circular Economy, Bond Beter Leefmilieu & Jakob Petutschnig, Policy Manager, Zero-Carbon Fuels, Clean Air Task Force
• 16:15: Just transition and the role of the unions in Europe, the Netherlands, Belgium and North  Rhine-Westphalia – Benjamin Denis, Senior Policy Advisor, IndustriAll, Bas van Weegberg, Executive Board Member,  FNV, Wim Careel, Advisor, ABVV  Metaal, Sophia Schönborn, IGBCE (moderator: Jeroen Fonteyn, Project manager circular economy and industry, Bond Beter Leefmilieu)
• 17:00: Apero with wine and Belgian beers
• 18:00: Closing

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On the 6th September 2022, Bellona Europa is organising a CCS Conference in Brussels. The purpose of the conference is to establish familiarity of regional actors with the EU-level CCS policy initiatives, to introduce funding opportunities that could be used to facilitate and accelerate the deployment of CCS projects in the region, as well as to enable and encourage communication and cooperation among regional stakeholders and EU representatives. We will host speakers and panellists representing the EU institutions (i.e. the European Parliament, and the European Commission) and Member States, CCS project developers from the CEE region, as well as civil society.

Please register to the event in order to confirm your participation. If you are not able to attend the conference in person, you can follow the event online.

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Date: 10:30-12:00 Tuesday, 28 June

Register here

Bellona Europa, CAN Europe and E3G have the pleasure of inviting you to the virtual event “Taxonomy CDA’s misalignment with path to net-zero and REPowerEU and the CEE perspective”. This is the fourth and last event of the Bellona Europa event series on the Taxonomy CDA, co-hosted by a range of cooperative partners.

The European Commission’s REPowerEU strategy set the path to end Europe’s problematic dependency on fossil fuels, and in particular Russian fossil gas. The solution identified: to accelerate the continent-wide deployment of renewable and low carbon technologies. Rather, the Taxonomy CDA makes these very solutions compete for sustainable funding with fossil gas. Join us for a discussion on how the CDA, if it remains unchanged, risks hindering the aims of the REPowerEU, locking in Europe’s fossil assets by green-lighting more investments into new fossil gas project. This event will also delve into the CEE perspectives, and how the Taxonomy CDA will influence the CEE region in particular.

Agenda:

• Welcome by moderator – Esther Bollendorff, EU Gas Policy Coordinator, CAN Europe
• Introduction of main conclusion event series – Lina Strandvåg Nagell, Senior Manager Projects & EU Policy, Bellona Europa
• Remarks from MEP Christophe Hansen, Group of the European People’s Party
• Aligning the EU’s green taxonomy with the new geopolitical reality – Tsvetelina Kuzmanova, Policy Advisor, E3G
• CEE perspective – Mihnea Catuti, Head of Research, Energy Policy Group
• Q&A

From 16 May to 20 May 2022, the International Sustainable Finance Centre (ISFC) is organising the CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, where Bellona’s Michał Wendołowski will be speaking about CCS deployment in Central and Eastern Europe.

Visit the Summit’s website to REGISTER for the online sessions and find out more information about the panels and speakers.  

After last year’s success, with 74 speakers and over 1000 registrations, with experts from various sectors engaging in 5 days of online discussions, this year the conference will be hybrid with both online and in-person (invite-only) participation.

The aim of this 5-day conference is to contribute to the discussion about sustainable finance and the opportunities for the CEE region created by the EU’s greater focus on carbon neutrality. The great variety of panels, featuring some of the most well-regarded experts in Europe will explore different dimensions of sustainability in finance applied to energy, banking, business, and innovation.

CEE Sustainable Finance Summit at a glance: 

• 5 days, 16 – 20 May 2022
• 15 panel discussions 
• 10 Focus groups (not available online)
• Co-hosted by 4 organisations from the CEE region in partnership with over 20+ organisations in Europe
• 5 main topics: Sustainable Finance, Energy, Business, Banking, and Innovation.

You can also follow the summit on the Summit’s Facebook and LinkedIn pages for the most recent updates. In case of any questions, please contact registrations@ceesummit.org.

Bellona Europa and ClientEarth have the pleasure of inviting you to the virtual event “Fossil gas in the EU Taxonomy CDA: Breach of laws and non-respect of democratic processes?”. The first of a 4-part series on the Taxonomy CDA arranged by Bellona Europa together with a range of cooperative partners.

The European Parliament has raised concerns over the democratic deficit of the CDA and non-respect of the Taxonomy Regulation that was adopted by the co-legislators. Civil society also raised the alarm due to the Commission’s disregard for the Sustainable Finance Platform’s recommendations and very limited stakeholder consultation. Member States have threatened to challenge the Act if adopted. Does the adoption of the CDA risk creating a dangerous precedent on the poor quality of the delegated acts adoption procedures and circumvention of powers delegated by the legislators?

Join us for a discussion about the potential legal shortcoming of the recently proposed Taxonomy CDA. For information on the full event series please see our brief explainer.

Register to the event here.

Agenda
– Welcome by moderator – Lina S. Nagell, Bellona Europa
– How the Commission exceeded powers conferred on it by the legislator in relation to fossil gas – Marta Toporek, ClientEarth
– Non-respect of democratic processes in the adoption of the CDA – Sirpa Pietikäinen, MEP EPP
– Austrian perspective on the legality of the CDA – Stefan Sengelin, Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology
– Q & A

Moderated by Lina S. Nagell, Bellona Europa

Virtual Workshop

Organizers: Negem, Bellona Europa, Carbon Market Watch
Registration link: https://forms.gle/zWzZpLdjvRZf3PuVA

The IPCC 1.5°C Special Report states that, in addition to the urgent need to cut CO2 pollution, significant carbon dioxide removals (CDR) will be necessary over this century. However, there are potentially risks involved in getting CDR policies wrong. Counting on removals that fail to materialise or are easily reversible could undermine climate efforts, and/or provide a dangerous distraction from prioritising and investing in emission reductions.

CDR is also high on the EU’s political agenda. The Climate Law makes it legally binding for the EU to achieve a balance between greenhouse gas emissions and carbon removals at the latest by 2050. The European Commission also included CDRs in its proposal for the 2030 headline climate target. In addition, the Commission is continuing its work on carbon farming and a ‘carbon removal certification mechanism’.

A first step to avoid pitfalls related to CDRs is to set a robust but flexible definition that will allow policymakers to determine which technologies and practices lead to real carbon removals, and which ones do not.

At this event, organised by Bellona and Carbon Market Watch (as members of the European Horizon 2020 NEGEM project), we will test and receive feedback on how to define the ‘negative’ in negative emissions. Our proposed definition is based on a paper by  Tanzer and Ramírez, and builds upon four crucial principles any technology or practice must uphold before it can deliver carbon dioxide removals:

1. Carbon dioxide is physically removed from the
2. The removed carbon dioxide is stored out of the atmosphere in a manner intended to be permanent.
3. Upstream and downstream greenhouse gas emissions, associated with the removal and storage process, are comprehensively estimated and included in the emission
4. The total quantity of atmospheric carbon dioxide removed and permanently stored is greater than the total quantity of carbon dioxide emitted to the atmosphere.

Programme

14:00 – 14:10 Welcome by Bellona

14:10 – 14:25 Opening by Terhi Lehtonen, Environment State Secretary, Finland

14:25 – 14:55 Principle 1 – Removal of CO2 from the atmosphere

• Christoph Buettler, ClimeWorks (Direct Air Capture and Storage)
• Lorie Hamelin, University of Toulouse (Soils and biochar)
• Heidi Sorensen, Head of Oslo Climate Agency (Waste-to-Energy with CCS)

14:55 – 15:35 Principle 2 – Storing CO2 in a manner intended to be permanent

• Graeme Sweeney, Zero Emissions Platform (CO2 Capture and Storage)
• Kelsey Perlman, Fern (Forestry Management)

15:35 – 15:50 Break from our screens to stretch our legs

15:50 – 16:20 Principle 3 & 4 – Getting the accounting right

• Andrea Ramirez, TU Delft
• Peter Zapfel, European Commission, DG Clima

16:20 – 16:30 Wrap up by CMW – which problems can a good definition solve?

This year edition of the  Marine Energy Transition Forum  will focus on how established and new industry players are collaborating to deliver commercially viable and scalable ‘solutions’, with the support of research organisations, port authorities as well as political institutions. Global energy experts discuss how shipping will fuel its future and to discover what the marine energy transition really means for the economy.

Bellona Europa is represented by our Director Jonas Helseth whom will present our vision and work done so far in the context of finding solution in the maritime sector.

Find the full programme here.

For any information in regards of our participation, please contact daniela@bellona.org

Monday, 9th December; 15:00-16:00
Nordic Pavilion, COP25 Madrid

Maritime transport is responsible for about 2.5% of global GHG emissions and could grow by about 50% to 250% by 2050. Additionally, shipping contributes significantly to harmful air pollution in port cities. We see COP25 as a great opportunity to contribute with a slot on the decarbonisation of shipping, gathering key players from the shipping sector who will present their work and current developments which pave the way for zero emission shipping.

In the context of EUSEW Bellona Europa will be hosting a discussion about how to decarbonise the shipping sector.

The conference will look at current developments on lowering emissions in the short sea as well as the deep sea shipping sectors. According to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), maritime transport is responsible for about 2.5% of global GHG emissions, and emissions from shipping could grow from between 50% to 250% by 2050. We see this event as a timely intervention where different key players in the shipping sector can present their work and current developments which pave the way for zero emission shipping. In light of this, our conference will gather policy makers, industry representatives and NGOs. Both –short and deep sea- panels offer the possibility to form a common dialogue where policies and solutions will be discussed, as well as barriers and lessons learnt, for going towards a decarbonised shipping sector.

Our event at the EUSEW 2019 offers the unique opportunity to kick-start this important discussion at the EU level.

Given the European Commission’s strategic long-term vision for a climate-neutral economy by 2050, a discussion on the potential of alternative technologies, based on current examples of their deployment, could help shed light on which solutions are available to the EU in order to lead the way in mitigation in this sector.

To register for our event click here: https://eusew.eu/policy-conference-2019

Factories along the Rhine river at sunset in Dusseldorf, Germany Credit: thinkstock

How can German and European industry become compatible with a net zero emission society? What technologies and policies are needed? What kind of infrastructure is necessary? Which EU funding is available? How can we ensure a just transition of energy intensive industries, protecting jobs and the economy?

The Northern Light CO₂ storage project, HeidelbergCement and Fortum – with support of the Bellona Foundation – invite industry, decision makers, unions and other stakeholders for an update on the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in Europe. This seminar will discuss the current challenges, milestones and potential for a greener industry in Europe.

Venue: European Cement Research Academy /ECRA)/ Verein Deutscher Zementwerke (VDZ), Tannenstrasse 2, 40476 Düsseldorf

Date & Time: June 12, 2019; from 10:30 – 16:00, including lunch

Language: The seminar will be held in English

Please register your participation here.

Programme

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states in their latest 1.5-degree report that CCS is necessary to meet the goals in the Paris agreement. CCS is therefore an important foundation for future sustainable industry growth in Europe. Speakers will present background and reasoning for CCS, present a status on current European projects and pilots as well as financing and the politics concerning CCS.

(Timing is subject to adjustments)
10:00 – 10:30 Arrival, registration and coffee
10:30 – 11:50 Approaches to decarbonisation 

• Dr. Martin Schneider, Chief Executive, VDZ
• Rikard Gaarder Knutsen, State Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, Norway
• Dr Lukas John, project manager, IN4Climate. NRW 
• Guido Nelissen, Senior Policy Adviser, IndustriAll European Trade Union
• Are Tomasgard, Confederal Secretary, Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO)
• Dr. Joachim Hein (tbc), Senior Manager Energy and Climate, BDI – Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie

11:50 – 12:35 Lunch
12:35 – 13:35 Carbon capture and storage – how and why?

• Frank Peter, Deputy Executive Director, Agora Energiewende
• Eirik Folkvord Tandberg, Managing Director, Fortum Oslo Varme
• Per Sandberg, Senior Advisor, Business Development, Equinor/Northern Lights CO2 project
• Stuart Haszeldine, Professor of Carbon Capture and Storage, School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh

13:35 – 13:55 Coffee break
13:55 – 16:00 Projects and funding

• Jan Theulen, Group Director Alternative Resources, HeidelbergCement
• Per Ytterberg, Head of System Development, Stockholm Exergi
• Christian Holzleitner, Head of Unit, Land Use and Finance for Innovation, The EU Commission’s Directorate-General for Climate Action
• Alexander Schenk, Head of Office, Stockholm, European Investment bank
• Panel discussion, moderated by Olav Øye, CCS Advisor, Bellona

For further information, please contact Rune Sjøhelle, Senior Advisor at Fo°tprint. Communications: rks@footprint.no

– SAVE THE DATE –

UNDERSTANDING OUR FUTURE

The Role of Europe in a Changing Climate for Research

Wednesday 28th November 2018, 16:30 – 18:30

Room 4Q2, European Parliament, Brussels

Seb Dance MEP, Fredrick Federley MEP, the Bellona Foundation and the Center for American Progress are delighted to invite you to a Hearing on the global outlook for climate science.

Since President Trump took office in the United States, the future of U.S. funding for climate research and essential atmospheric and earth data collection has been thrown into turmoil. Proposals for the U.S. Federal Budget have seen funding cuts of as much as 16.8% between 2017 and 2018, which not only risks setting-back progress and understanding in the U.S., but has critical ramifications on the international stage, including for the European Union. Indeed, almost half of all satellites monitoring the climate are run by US Administrations and are at risk of funding cuts.

On Wednesday 28th November, John Podesta, Founder of Center for American Progress, will discuss latest developments in the U.S. and offer a call-to-arms to Europe to step-up it’s support for climate science. Drawing on his insights and experience as Chief of Staff to President Clinton, and as Counsellor to President Obama, Podesta is set to offer an invaluable perspective to Members of the European Parliament alongside a selection of other senior European stakeholders.

Agenda

16:30 – 16:40              Introductory Remarks

• Jonas Helseth, Director, Bellona Europa

16:40 – 16:50              Opening remarks

• Fredrick Federley MEP

16:50 – 17:20              Keynote speech

• John Podesta, Founder, Center for American Progress

17:20 – 17:40              Panel discussion

• John Podesta, Founder Center for American Progress
• Kai-Uwe Schrogl – Chief Strategy Officer, European Space Agency
• Fredrick Federley – MEP
• Seb Dance – MEP

17.40 – 18:00              Q&A

18:00 – 18:10              Closing Remarks

• Seb Dance MEP

 To register your interest in attending the event, please click here

If you have any trouble registering, please email: mark@bellona.org

Register Now

DESCRIPTION

Bellona and MEP Seb Dance (S&D) have the pleasure of inviting you to a conference in the European Parliament, Brussels, on May 24th, ‘Building greener and more liveable cities: the role of zero emission construction sites’.

Confirmed Participants:
Lene Lad Johansen, Smart Oslo, Oslo Kommune
Matija Matokovic, Policy Officer for Innovation and Public Procurement, DG GROW;
Josefina Lindblom, Policy Officer for Sustainable Buildings, DG ENV;
Erik Sollerud, Managing Director, PON Equipment Norway;
Tim Pryce, Interim Programme Director for Energy and Buildings, C40 Cities;
Stefanie Wieland, Head of Group Brands, Marketing & Communications, Wacker Neuson Group;
Philipp Fleischer, Head of Product Management, Liebherr-Mischtechnik GmbH;
Christina Ianssen, Transport Advisor at Bellona Foundation;
Jonas Helseth, Director of Bellona Europa

To register to the event, please click here.

This conference, approved as an official EU Green Week 2018 Partner event, takes a closer look at zero emission construction sites: an important component to making cities greener and more liveable. Electric mobility is increasingly recognised, among policy makers and industry alike, as the most promising measure to lowering climate-warming CO₂ emissions and tackling hazardous air- and noise-pollution in urban areas. Electrification is rapidly becoming an accessible decarbonisation option for not only passenger vehicles, but also buses, trains, urban duty vehicles, ships, and not least the machinery used in the construction and renovation of the built environment.

While it is well known that construction sites are the source of different forms of pollution – including material waste, visible dust, noise, and vibration – construction and demolition sites also produce less obvious pollutants which are of serious concern for human health, namely NO₂ and particulate matter. According to the European Environment Agency, environmental noise has contributed to at least 900 000 additional prevalent cases of hypertension in 2011, 43 000 additional cases of hospital admissions and to 10 000 cases of premature mortality each year. The vast majority of this pollution comes from the thousands of diesel diggers, generators and other machines operating on construction sites.

Europe can rid itself of vast amounts of urban pollution by targeting the electrification of construction machinery. A recent Bellona-sponsored study shows that construction sites emit more than 400 000 tonnes of CO₂ per year in Norway alone. This corresponds to the emissions from all passenger cars and lighter vehicles in Oslo, in addition to 5,1 tons of NO_x. In recognition of these vast, climate, environmental, and human health implications, Norway has placed ‘zero emission construction sites’ high on its agenda in recent months, and a number of public builders are already investing in and demanding emission-free construction sites. While 25% of emissions in Oslo are from construction machines, the city has a target of reducing emissions by 50% by 2020, and by 95% by 2030. What is more, since 2017, the City Council has set a minimum requirement of fossil-free construction sites in public procurement procedures.

EU Green Week 2018 offers the unique opportunity to kick-start this important discussion at the EU level.

The EU has already taken a first step to tackling these emissions. Regulation (EU) 2016/1628 aims to progressively reduce emissions from non-road mobile machinery and phase out equipment with the most polluting engines. Drawing on the Norwegian experience, decarbonising the EU construction sector, necessitates a common development course and dialogue between public authorities that are key to facilitating the right regulatory and financial framework, and market participants with hands-on expertise and the resources to deploy the solutions.

In light of this, our conference will gather policy makers, companies and NGOs in a common dialogue, building upon best practices from Norway. Representatives from the city of Oslo, voted European Green Capital in 2019, and construction companies will, together with Bellona discuss policies and solutions, as well as barriers and lessons learnt, for going towards zero emission construction sites.

AGENDA:

14:05   Opening remarks Host MEP, Seb Dance (S&D Group)

 14:15   Best practices from Oslo Green Capital 2019: How public authorities can play a catalytic role in stirring the transition to zero emission construction sites?  – Lene Lad Johansen, Project Leader Smart Oslo, Oslo Kommune 

 14:25   The full-chain decarbonisation perspective: zero emissions building materials, processes & cities. – Christina Ianssen, Transport Advisor, Bellona Foundation

 14:35   Current and future EU policy initiatives: a closer a look at innovative public procurement in fostering zero emission construction – Matija Matokovic, Policy Officer for Innovation and e-Procurement, DG GROW, European Commission

 14:45   The state of the art and what policy is needed to deliver zero emission technology – Erik Sollerud, Managing Director, PON Equipment Norway

 14:55   Panel discussion and Q&A (45 mins)

• Josefina Lindblom, Policy Officer for Sustainable Buildings, Unit for Sustainable Production, Products and Consumption, DG ENV
• Tim Pryce, Programme Director for Energy and Buildings, C40 Cities
  
• Stefanie Wieland, Head of Group Brands, Marketing & Communications, Wacker Neuson Group
• Philipp Fleischer, Head of Product Management, Liebherr-Mischtechnik GmbH

 15:40   Closing remarks Host MEP, Seb Dance (S&D Group)

Moderated by Jonas Helseth, Director of Bellona Europa

For any further questions please contact mark@bellona.org

DESCRIPTION

A European Parliament Conference on Air Pollution and Clean Mobility co-hosted by MEP Seb Dance, MEP Keith Taylor and Bellona Europa

Bellona Conference 'Going Electric Towards Cleaner and Healthier Cities', European Parliament, 23 Nov 2017 Credit: Bellona

On 23 November at 09:00 Bellona Europa will be co-organising together with MEP Seb Dance (S&D) and MEP Keith Taylor (Greens), a conference on air pollution and clean mobility in the European Parliament. 

Focus of the conference:

One in three Europeans living in cities today endure air quality deemed illegal under EU air quality standards: this entails significant financial and economic implications, in terms of increased expenditures on hospital charges, public health spending, reduced labor productivity and pre-mature deaths. Road transport is to blame for the lion’s share of health damaging local air pollution, being the largest source of NOx emissions as well as particulate matter. A recent Bellona report finds that if this heavy, yet unaccounted for, human health cost was to be borne by fossil auto makers we would see a doubling in the average internal combustion engine (ICE) car’s sticker price. This unaffordable personal and economic cost of air pollution underscores the need for strong policy action on EU, national and local levels.

This conference will take a closer look at the role of public authorities in tackling the air pollution-induced human health crisis through stimulating the uptake of zero emission mobility. World-wide 557,000 cities and communities spend roughly €4 trillion per year; the equivalent of 10% of global GDP. This makes cities key to boosting demand for sustainable zero emission mobility. The ongoing revision of the Clean Vehicles Directive offers a once-in-a-decade opportunity to redesign existing EU legislation into a user-friendly and effective tool for the procurement of zero emission electric vehicles and paving the way for cleaner, healthier cities.

AGENDA:

09:15     Opening remarks Host MEP, Keith Taylor (Greens Group)

09:25     The tremendous human health cost of conventionally fueled road transport, and how public authorities can play a catalytic role in stirring the market for electro-mobility? Jonas Helseth, Director of Bellona Europa

09:35     A closer look at the city we live in: reflecting citizens’ voices in local and EU legislation. Lievin Chemin, Mobility & Air Quality, Brussels Citizens’ Initiative, BRAL

09:45     Transitioning from niche to mainstream: Getting the right regulatory framework in place & creating supply & demand for clean mobility. Felix von Pechmann, Head of Electric Bus Programme, RATP

09:55     Panel discussion and Q&A (25 mins)

Jef Van Damme, Member of Brussels Parliament (Socialists Group)

Jose Fernandez Garcia, Policy Officer, Clean Transport and Sustainable Urban Mobility, DG MOVE, European Commission

Representative from the Permanent Representation of Denmark to the EU

10:20     Closing remarks Host MEP, Seb Dance (S&D Group)

Moderated by Teodora Serafimova, Policy Manager Electro-Mobility at Bellona Europa

Coffee & tea will be served.

For registration, click here or contact teodora@bellona.org

This year’s UN Climate Summit (COP23) will be held in Bonn, Germany 6 – 17 November. The conference will be convened under the Presidency of Fiji, determined to maintain the momentum of the 2015 Paris Agreement. Bellona will be present and arranging several events, notably on CCS and e-mobility.

A program for all Bellona events is available here.

Credit: Bellona

For all official UNFCCC side events, click here.
For all side events in the EU Pavilion, click here.
For all side events in the Nordic Pavilion, click here.

On 12 July at 18:30 Bellona Europa will be organising a movie screening evening of the documentary «There Will Be Water» in the Fairtrade Room of Mundo B. The documentary tells the story of the Sahara Forest Project, and its pursuit of the ambitious vision of greening desert areas whilst producing food, freshwater and clean energy at the same time.

The idea is simple – bring saltwater into the desert – evaporate it by means of the sun and create fresh water, food and energy in desert. But it is 50 degrees in the sun and it seems that every drop of fresh water requires a drop of sweat. The global demand for water is growing while at the same time the world’s available freshwater levels are dropping at alarming rates. More than a 1.5 billion people live in water stressed areas. And, the Middle East is drying up – water scarcity is causing severe political and regional tensions.

Following the movie, stay with us for a short discussion on sustainable growth of biomass. Bellona Europa published earlier this year a report looking into the opportunities and risks of using seaweed and algae cultivation for aviation bio-jetfuel.

See trailer of the documentary here.

Limited number of seats, please register here.

The Platform for Electro-mobility, of which Bellona is a founding member, is a growing collaborative, multi-stakeholder initiative to accelerate the transition towards sustainable transport by means of electro-mobility. In the framework of the discussions on the “Clean energy for all Europeans” package, our 25 members believe that electro-mobility is one of the main levers to achieve the European Union’s goals to decarbonise the economy, increase energy security and foster innovation and competitiveness in Europe’s core industries.

Bellona Foundation President Frederic Hauge will feature among the event’s panelists to share Bellona’s experience in fostering the electric revolution in Norway, and how EU countries can draw lessons and replicate best practices.

The event will bring together high-level representatives of the European Institutions, EU member states and experts to discuss the role of electro-mobility in Europe’s transition to a low-carbon economy and in fostering economic growth.

Register here!

When ? Tuesday 28 March 2017 from 5.30 to 8.00 pm

Where ? European Parliament, Members’ salon

PROGRAMME:

17.30  Registration

18:00  Event starts with keynote speeches from MEPs and EU high level Rep.

18:30  Panel discussion followed by Q&A session

20.00  Event ends

Keen to learn more about our platform ?

Visit the Platform’s website: http://www.platformelectromobility.eu/