EUI Climate Week brings crucial climate change discussions to Florence

After a successful first edition in 2022, the EUI Climate Week is heading into its second round. Hosted by Professor Jos Delbeke and his team, more than 100 climate professionals are expected in Florence in the first week of May. Among them high-profile representatives from the world of policymaking, business and academia, including Kurt Vandenberghe, Director General of DG CLIMA at the European Commission, Catherine Stewart, Government of Canada Climate Change Ambassador, and Kay Harrison, Climate Change Ambassador of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Some sessions are open to the public, while others will take place behind closed doors. The EUI Climate Week opens on Tuesday 2 May, two days before the start of  the 2023 The State of the Union conference, which will feature panel discussions on key policy areas including the green transition and energy security. This winning combination allows participants to make the most of their stay.

Participants will discuss the central issues on today's climate change agenda, with particular attention to the evolution of carbon pricing in the coming decades, as carbon prices fluctuated throughout 2022. The European Union adopted a substantive review of the Emissions Trading System, creating an additional system covering transport and buildings, and agreeing on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. Outside Europe, the Voluntary Carbon Market continues to develop, and the United States adopted the Inflation Reduction Act to step up its contribution to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. Moreover, the turmoil in energy markets after the Russian invasion of Ukraine recalled Europe and the world that heavy dependence on fossil fuels is not only a problem for climate change, but also for energy security.

EUI Climate Week gathers the expertise of all the units of the European University Institute (EUI) working on climate and energy issues, including the Florence School of Regulation and the School of Transnational Governance (STG). Professor Jos Delbeke’s climate team at the STG, known as STG Climate, organises the high-level debates at the School’s Palazzo Buontalenti.

More about STG Climate.

Check out the programme.

Overview:

Tuesday 2 May

• Opening of the EUI Carbon Markets Day by Jos Delbeke
• Voluntary Carbon Markets and the Quality of Offsets: are we approaching a make or break moment? 
• The Extension of EU ETS to Heating and Transport Fuels, Including Process Heating Fuels: how will it work? 
• STG Talk: Financing Clean Energy in Africa: Breaking Barriers and Looking into the Future

Wednesday 3 May

• Carbon Leakage, Border Measures and Carbon Clubs 
• Racing to the top: government support policies for lowcarbon innovation and deployment 
• Opening of the Florence Process
• What Next for EU Climate Policy?

Thursday 4 May

• Florence Process
• State of the Union: The geopolitics of the energy transition: is strategic autonomy the solution or the problem? 

Friday 5 May

• State of the Union: Green Transition and Energy Security