Politicians, government officials, as well as business, media, and civil society representatives are gathered in Glasgow for the 26th UN Climate Change Conference, known as COP26. The summit brings together stakeholders to accelerate action to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to mitigate the devastating effects of climate change.
At the School of Transnational Governance (STG), the climate issue has been at the top of the agenda from the very beginning: with more than 11 team members working on sustainability and climate governance, the STG is set to consolidate its position as a world-class centre for research and teaching in the field of climate policy. Climate and sustainability is also one of the specialisation tracks of its two-year Master programme in Transnational Governance.
The climate efforts are led by Professor Jos Delbeke, former Director-General of the European Commission's DG Climate Action. Prof Delbeke is the European University Institute's first European Investment Bank (EIB) Chair on Climate Change Policy and International Carbon Markets ('EIB Climate Chair'), established in September 2020. The Chair connects the EUI’s research and training with the EIB’s expertise in both financial and non-financial aspects of climate policy. The Chair covers questions related to energy, industry, mobility, trade, finance, agriculture, forestry, and puts particular attention on carbon markets.
Watch Prof Jos Delbeke below this article about the connection between policy and academia on climate issues.
The role of carbon markets is also the main feature of another key project, run by the STG climate team in cooperation with World Bank’s Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition and the Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer internationale Zusammenarbeit (GiZ). The Executive Dialogues on International Carbon Markets seek to share the European experience of carbon pricing and trading systems with non-European G20 countries.
The findings and experiences of the STG climate team is reflected in a series of quality publications. Leaders in Europe and beyond appreciate and rely on the expertise based at the STG. For example, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen joined the School for a public event in July 2021 to answer questions about the EU’s Green Deal.
The climate team has a busy year ahead, with upcoming executive trainings in G20 countries and increased engagement in Latin America with the help of STG fellows. In addition, a Massive Open Online Course is in preparation for early 2022.
In the coming weeks we will put a spotlight on the team’s activities on our social channels. Stay tuned!