“We at Ethical Markets are happy to post this update, see also our 2017 Green Transition Scoreboard® “Deepening Green Finance” at www.ethicalmarkets.com ~Hazel Henderson, Editor”
Low-carbon innovation and growth continues to be driven by economic logic despite President Trump’s announcement to exit the Paris Climate Agreement. In June, the Carnegie Energy and Climate Program, in partnership with the European Union Delegation to the United States, hosted “Addressing Climate Change Through Innovation.” The event featured Kristalina Georgieva, CEO of the World Bank, David O’Sullivan, ambassador and head of the European Union Delegation to the United States, and a distinguished panel of industry leaders. The discussion reinforced that regardless of the course U.S. climate policy takes over the coming years, low-carbon innovation and growth is unlikely to be deterred.
In conjunction with this event, I participated a podcast on this topic with Jigar Shah, founder of SunEdison and CEO of Generate Capital, and Lisa Hagerman, director of programs at venture capital firm DBL. Earlier in the month, I also joined CGTN to discuss how these dynamics are playing out in multilateral fora, such as the G7 and G20.
I also address transatlantic energy and climate cooperation in an article co-authored with Erik Brattberg, fellow and director of the Carnegie Europe Program. I argue that despite the diplomatic fallout from this move, Europeans should continue to identify areas for mitigating risks and reinforcing collaboration between countries in the critical years ahead to avoid clouding the broader transatlantic energy and climate agenda. This includes embracing a pragmatic approach on issues where the EU and United States have shared energy interests: including energy security, innovation, and trade.
On the related topic of European energy security, Erik and I offer responses to a question posed by Judy Dempsey for Strategic Europe: Is Europe too Dependent on Russian Energy? Erik notes that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which Gazprom seeks to build with Germany, would weaken, not strengthen, the European energy market. Building on Erik’s argument, I reiterate the call for competitive markets and point to diversification of supply options as the key strategy for empowering European consumers.
As always, I welcome your thoughts on this work and other key topics in energy and climate. Please stay tuned for upcoming publications and events. You can connect with me on LinkedIn and follow me on Twitter for more updates and news: @DavidatCarnegie.