'Barriers and Opportunities: Low Carbon Transition' seminar, British Embassy Helsinki
Ambassador Matthew Lodge welcomed Finnish and UK experts at a seminar to discuss the challenges and opportunities of low carbon economy.
Ambassador Lodge highlighted the British Foreign Secretary’s recent reaffirmation to place climate change at the heart of British foreign policy.
British Ambassador to Finland, Matthew Lodge, welcomed Finnish and UK experts from government, industry and academia at a seminar held at the British Embassy in Helsinki on 16 May to discuss the challenges and opportunities as Europe transitions to a low carbon economy.
In the week before heads of Government gather at the European Council on 22 May when they will discuss energy issues, around 20 Finnish and British energy and climate change professionals from different ministries, research and policy bodies, and industry gathered to discuss developments in the European and global energy sector, and the impact on climate change policies. Ambassador Lodge highlighted the British Foreign Secretary’s recent reaffirmation to place climate change at the heart of British foreign policy.
Senior Research Fellow Clare McNeil from the leading UK think tank, the Institute for Public Policy Reform, gave a summary of the IPPR’s report which examines competing views on the transition to a low-carbon economy across Europe. The results of the report show that there is an urgent need for clarity and certainty on EU targets post-2020, and policy frameworks that can accommodate ‘losers’ and ‘winners’.
CEO for the Finnish Cluster for Energy and Environment (CLEEN), Tommy Jacobson offered an industrial point of view, presenting some of the current projects that the company is working on in partnership with a large number of Finnish multinational companies and research institutes. Ambassador Erik Ulfstedt, Energy and Climate coordinator at the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs updated participants an overview of Finland’s developing policy roadmap on energy and climate strategy.
The seminar was designed to facilitate the exchange of views between Finnish and British energy and climate change experts and is the latest in a series of UK/Finnish dialogue on this important subject. A follow-up event with a more business focus is planned for the autumn.
You can read the IPPR report here