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FIIA Climate Briefing #6

Webinar · 01.03.2022 09:30 - 10:45

The geopolitics of the energy transition: What are the prospects for Europe and major global actors?

While a green transition has begun to unfold in several countries, new geopolitical challenges have also emerged in the energy arena. Fossil fuel exporters are confronted with the risk of losing substantial revenues, whereas leaders in the transition are trying to secure access to new resources (rare earths, critical minerals) and competing in green technologies. As worsening climate change increases the pressure on governments to decarbonize, the development of advanced renewable energy installations, smart grids, new power lines, green hydrogen and new digital and green technologies will shape energy and climate policy in the coming years.

What are the main geopolitical developments and global challenges in the field of the energy transition? What is Europe’s position in this rapidly evolving context?

This webinar also provides an opportunity to present and discuss FIIA’s latest Briefing Paper on the topic.

Speakers

Maria Pastukhova

Senior Policy Advisor, E3G Berlin

Maria Pastukhova is Senior Policy Advisor in E3G’s Berlin office. Maria leads E3G’s work on Energy Diplomacy, international financial institutions and geopolitics to drive the sustainable and just transformation of the energy systems. Maria works with policymakers, academia, civil society, organizations and businesses to build diplomatic coalitions around the sustainable and socially equitable transition to low-carbon energy systems. Her particular focus is the energy dimension of the EU Green Deal and its geopolitical and economic implications. Within her work on public finance institutions, she designs and develops advocacy strategies towards international banks in their shift away from fossil fuels.

Before joining E3G, Maria worked at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), covering the geopolitical aspects of energy transition and EU energy diplomacy, as well as the EU/German-Russian energy relations. She also supported the work of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) on power grid connectivity for sustainable development in Northeast Asia and will continue to consult ESCAP on this issue. Prior to that, she has worked with Foresight Intelligence, developing strategic foresight formats for a broad range of (geo)political issues.

Maria has a Master’s in political science from the Free University of Berlin and a Diploma in International Relations awarded by the Irkutsk State University (Russia). In her Bachelor, she studied Japanese Studies at the Free University of Berlin and Tsukuba University (Japan). She is currently writing her PhD on the political economy of energy transition in Northeast Asia.

Marco Siddi

Senior Research Fellow, FIIA

Marco Siddi is Montalcini Assistant Professor at the University of Cagliari (Italy) and Senior Research Fellow at FIIA. He focuses primarily on EU-Russia relations and EU energy and climate policy. His recent publications include the monograph European Identities and Foreign Policy Discourses on Russia: From the Ukraine to the Syrian Crisis (Routledge, 2020) and several articles in academic journals, including the Journal of European Public Policy, Politics and Governance, Geopolitics, The International Spectator, German Politics and International Politics.

He is a member of the Younger Generation Leaders Network on Euro-Atlantic Security, a platform established after the Ukraine crisis to promote dialogue between Russia and the West. He is also Adjunct Professor at the Universities of Helsinki and Tampere, where he teaches courses on EU-Russia relations and EU energy and climate policy.