After the elections: What’s in it for energy?

On April 12, we gathered at bar Walden for YES-DC’s event on Energy & Politics. In the somewhat unusual location, our guest speakers (prof. Pier Vellinga WUR and Klara Schure – PBL) both stressed the importance of politics in the energy transition. We quickly learned that ‘Energy is Politics’!
Pier offered an international perspective by discussing the Paris Agreement. Although the Paris Agreement was mostly a political victory, it has made carbon emissions the elephant in the room in many boardrooms. At the same time, the Dutch economy is still heavily based on fossil fuels and Dutch policy is influenced by a strong lobby that intends to slow down the energy transition. Pier closed off with several short-term actions the Dutch government should take to comply with the Paris Agreement.

After a short break, Klara presented a thorough analysis of the election programs of seven political parties and their effects on energy and climate (change). According to Klara the ambitions in the election programs on progressive climate and energy policy are relatively conservative, but do show some steps forward. She ended her presentation by discussing the costs of the energy transition for the seven political parties.

We would like to thank both speakers and attendees for the fruitful discussion and their enthusiasm!