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

[vc_row el_class=”fixed-width removesec-border”][vc_column][vc_column_text]The elections have given us a house of representatives with a wide range of different political views on the energy sector. As the formation of the government is already underway we would like to discuss with you what the outcome of the elections can mean for our energy policy in the next 4 years. Our experts of the evening will be Pier Vellinga and Klara Schure. Both will provide us with insights of how the current political landscape can influence the energy sector for the following years.[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][cm_page_title title=”Speakers” tag=”h3″ text_align=”left” horizontal_rule=”0″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][cm_page_title title=”Pier Vellinga, Professor Climate Change, Wageningen University” tag=”h4″ horizontal_rule=”0″][cm_team_member image=”2766″ name=”Pier Vellinga” description=”Pier Vellinga is a professor at the University of Wageningen and is one of the Dutch experts on the impacts of climate change. He is chair of the Knowledge for Climate Foundation and Urgenda. Furthermore he is a professor in Climate and Water at Wageningen University and in Societal Impacts of Climate Change at VU Amsterdam. Additionally he is director of the Wageningen University climate program. He is involved politically as head of the Sustainable division of D66 and involved with writing the climate program of this years elections plan for D66.” socials=”%5B%7B%7D%5D”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][cm_page_title title=”Klara Schure, Researcher Energy Transition, NEAA” tag=”h4″ horizontal_rule=”0″][cm_team_member image=”2767″ name=”Klara Schure” description=”Klara Schure promoted on theoretical astroplasmafysica at Utrecht University and did her postdoc at Oxford. After a couple of years as a strategy consultant for Roland Berger she started working for the Netherlands Environmental Assesment Agency (PBL) as a researcher on policy development for the energy transition. Past year she was involved in the analysis of the election programs on their impact on the energy sector” socials=”%5B%7B%7D%5D”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][cm_page_title title=”Recap Event | April 12: | After the elections, what’s in it for Energy?” tag=”h4″ text_align=”left” horizontal_rule=”0″][vc_column_text]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![/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]