Clean Energy for EU Islands Forum puts spotlight on “trailblazers of the European Green Deal”
Last week, the 4-day Clean Energy for EU Islands Online Forum brought together different EU island communities to share clean energy and decarbonisation strategies, highlighting successful cases and ambitious climate plans. The event centred on creating a more robust connection between EU institutions and the islands, with representatives from many islands giving feedback on their latest developments and grassroots activities.
The Forum began with a keynote from European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, who emphasised how EU islands are well-placed for spearheading the European clean energy transition due to natural resources, small-scale, and potential for innovative problem solving in response to their biodiversity. Simson said: “Carbon-neutral energy systems developed on an island scale may be replicated and scaled-up elsewhere. This gives islands a unique potential to be trailblazers of the European Green Deal.” Simson added that for EU islands to innovate they require access to resources from European support channels, something that has been facilitated by The Memorandum of Split.
A key message of the Forum was that the clean energy transition can better flourish when local support and communities are invested in transitioning. Representatives of the La Palma Renovable association shared such a success story. La Palma is one of the pilot islands chosen by the Clean Energy for EU Islands Secretariat to develop renewable energy sources. La Palma Renovable began as a grassroots movement two years ago and has since grown into what the association calls a “true energy democracy”. For instance, to inform and empower citizens’ energy usage, the association developed an interactive map detailing the carbon footprint of the 100 involved organisations, for the sake of energy transparency. To facilitate decarbonisation on the island, the association is running hackathons in order to develop innovative business ideas to work towards the goal of climate neutrality. The small scale of islands like La Palma means that these kinds of grassroots initiatives can have a concrete impact in a short time frame. Similar bottom-up approaches could be facilitated in other European areas, such as small, rural, non-island communities, replicating the success of La Palma.
The importance of inspiring young people to join the clean energy transition was another red thread throughout the Forum. For example, the Azores hosted their Forum session in a primary school, with children in attendance who explained how to produce energy via solar and renewables, and presented a plan to further improve their school’s energy efficiency. Another school-based presentation came from Frane Petric Primary School, on the pilot project island of Cres in Croatia, an eco-school and solar trailblazer, with 10 kW of solar panels installed on its roof; with this renewable energy, the school powers many of its activities. Frane Petric also discussed their activities that encourage students to strive for climate-positive behaviour, so that a relationship to the environment and clean energy is part of the school curriculum and fostered in students early on. These activities in small island schools are a direct consequence of their home islands being chosen as pilot projects by the Clean Energy for EU Islands Secretariat.
A final message of the Forum was that a clean energy transition builds resilience not only to climate change but also to COVID-19 risk factors. Petros Markopoulos, from the DAFNI Network of Sustainable Greek Islands, discussed the fact that island economies rely on tourism as their primary revenue source, however, in the face of a long-term pandemic, economies must be diversified and cannot simply rely on this one sector. Markopoulos promoted solar and renewables as an attractive sector that can build resilience and economic opportunities, due to job-creation and energy self-sufficiency. Indeed, Greece is investing 40% of its COVID-19 recovery fund into green energy projects. This is another instance where sustainable lessons learned on EU islands can be scaled up and replicated across Europe: solar and renewables offer regions the chance to build resilience to both the pandemic and climate change.
In the context of the Forum, 22 European islands published a clean energy transition agenda, with 7 others signaling their intent to publish transition agendas in the near future. This includes islands in Ireland, Croatia, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, France, and Finland.
Customer comments
No comments were found for Clean Energy for EU Islands Forum puts spotlight on “trailblazers of the European Green Deal”. Be the first to comment!