Energy cluster of IFZO has been actively participating in a few international seminars and conferences bringing the energy transition in the BSR into the discussion.
In October, IFZO Energy represented in the Baltic Carbon Forum (BCF 2019). BCF is a platform for all stakeholders who work on CO2 mitigation technologies such as carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR). During this forum, stakeholders from academia, industry, the private sector and civil society actively engaged in panels for knowledge and information sharing and networking. Farid Karimi of IFZO Energy was a member of the conference organising committee and chair of one of the panels namely Public acceptability and policies – Enabling CCUS in the Baltic Sea Region. Summary of the discussions during BCF 2019 and some of the presentations are available on the conference website: https://bcforum.net/forum.php
Furthermore, on the first day of the conference, the BASRECCS association, a network of CO2 mitigation expertise in the BSR, had its annual general assembly. During this meeting, Farid was elected as the chairperson of the association. During his term, Farid aims at establishing a science-policy-society interface to bring various stakeholders together for advancing a large scale CCUS deployment in the BSR.
Right after the BCF 2019, the Nordic-Baltic Energy Conference 2019 held in Tallinn as well. During this conference, representatives of the BSR countries presented their national climate and energy plans for the energy transition by 2030. These plans will be submitted to the European Commission in the coming months. Furthermore, there were a couple of engaging debates between policymakers and industry representatives on the energy transition in the Nordic-Baltic region. Details of the conference and presentations are available at: https://www.norden.ee/en/about-us/news/item/9204-overview-of-the-nordic-baltic-energy-conference-by-johan-vetlesen
In early November, IFZO energy participated in the workshop “From economic to energy transition: Three decades of transitions in Central and Eastern Europe” at Comenius University in Bratislava. This workshop is a part of a book project on the very topic leading by Dr Matúš Mišík and Dr Veronika Oravcová of Comenius University. Farid Karimi of IFZO presented their underway chapter A framework for Energy transition in the Baltic Sea region: an overview of socio-political and legal gaps at this workshop. Prof Michael Rodi, the speaker of the energy cluster, is the co-author of this paper. Sixteen researchers from several universities mainly from the Baltic states and the Eastern European countries participated in this workshop and presented their chapters. Palgrave will publish this book next year.
Finally, IFZO energy (Prof Rodi and Farid Karimi) will participate in United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP25) in Madrid in December 2019 as a part of a joint delegation with Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research of MIT, USA. COP is organised in the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and is one of the most important climate change-related international events. The delegation will be closely involved with the climate change negotiations following up the Paris Agreement and runs a side-event. Stay tuned on the outcome of this conference and the activities of the IFZO delegation during this conference through the IFZO website and the social media platforms.
Report: Farid Karimi