Global Utmaning

10 år sedan

The Nordic countries already have a long history of cross-border cooperation in the electricity market sector and source a large part of their power supply from renewable energy. How to continue this path and achieve further decarbonisation?

In spite of the German Bundestag hearing on the new draft Renewables law helt the same afternoon, around 60 people representing the major stakeholders in the German Energiewende convened at the “Felleshus”, the shared Nordic countries embassies’ building in Berlin, to learn more about the Nordic experience and the proposals from the Nordic Action Group on Climate and Energy (NAG).

Kristina Perssons concluding remarks from the seminar follow below:

“To wrap up, I would like to share a few key observations and reflections from the seminar with you:

• Sustainability has become a driver for business development. The market-based experience, in combination with a continuously improved policy- and regulatory framework, will make the combination of competitiveness and sustainability both feasible and profitable. Policy and market conditions need to be reformed and changed – to accommodate and encourage the introduction of secure and cost-effective renewable energy – on a much larger scale.

• Nordic countries, with their diversities, have significant and favourable complementarities with Germany in terms of the endowment of renewable energy resources. Both sides have different, but useful, policy experiences and lessons to offer to each other. But most importantly, we share the same determination to make a carbon-neutral future a reality – despite the daunting challenges and uncertainties;

• The cooperation between the Nordic countries and Germany  will not only be mutually beneficial, but mutually empowering – with better cost-effectiveness, accelerated pace for decarbonisation as well as enhanced innovation capacity.

However, these mutual benefits will not be possible unless the following pre-conditions are fulfilled:

• 1 st – We need to distance ourselves from the “zero-sum-game” mind-set in the process of integration. This is important not only for energy and climate, but also for the economic and industrial development as a whole. In this context, the integration of the Nordic and German electricity systems could be a showcase to the rest of Europe.

• 2^nd We need vision, action and investments. As correctly highlighted in the discussion, the investment issues as well as the cost-sharing mechanisms will be key to making the future transmission capacity and increased integration possible.

• Finally, we are in an acute need for political leadership both at the European level, and at the national level. We need to move from the narrowly defined national and short-term interests towards a shared view and a stronger confidence in a common future for Europe. Nationalism bears no solutions for the future, not in this field nor in any other field for development. This is particularly important now, when both the economic development and the political landscape in Europe are in a such  uncertain and vulnerable stage.

Looking ahead, we have several critical decisions and agreements in front of us, I am thinking of the EU 2030 energy and climate package and the post-Kyoto global climate framework.  I do hope that Global Utmaning and Agora Energiewende together with many other good forces in Europe can make the difference that drives us towards an open, sustainable and competitive Europe.

Thank you all for coming and for making this seminar a great success.

Last but not least, a great applause to Anne-Margrete, Nicola and Catherine for their excellent organisation of this seminar!”

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More material from the seminar:

See the full programme here

Additional material from the seminar will follow.