#SustainablePublicAffairs

Are you passionate about driving forward sustainability and hoping to use your holidays for job applications? 🎄 Well, you’re in luck because we’re hiring! We’re looking for a new colleague to join us and help accelerate our mission of making sustainable frontrunners’ performance the norm. 💼   What’s in it for you? 🌱Opportunity to shape the future of finance and sustainability reporting. 📍 Stimulating work environment with amazing colleagues (yes we might be biased). 💶 Competitive salary with flexible work arrangements.   What we’re looking for? 📋 6+ years of public affairs experience in EU policy. 🏦 Strong interest in finance and reporting legislation (eg. CSDD, CSRD, SFDR).   Think you’d be a good fit? Check out the attached job description and get in touch 📢 

Should we call 2024 the year of the heating and cooling transition? 🔥🧊 Much has been achieved: 📄 In January, the European Parliament called the European Commission to present a geothermal strategy to unlock the local renewables full potential and decarbonise heating and cooling to drive down emissions and increase #energyindependence. 📨 A few weeks later, 20 civil society and industry associations asked for clean heating and cooling to become a priority for the new Commission mandate. 📣 This call was picked up in spring by 15 Member States pointing out the need to increase decarbonisation efforts and reduce fossil fuel dependencies. 🇪🇺 After the summer break, decarbonising heating and cooling was included as a priority task for the next 5 years in the Commission President’s mission letters which was further discussed during the parliamentary hearings. 🤝 Industry and civil society came together once more to launch the #BringHeatHome campaign with the support of many ambitious Members of the European Parliament. We have a bit of full circle moment as Member States just earlier today adopted their geothermal Council conclusions highlighting the potential of the local #renewableenergy. Similar to the European Parliament’s report from the very beginning of the year, Member States are asking the Commission to prepare a 𝗱𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗴𝗲𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻 accompanied by a 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴. This is great news for the climate and means the year ends on a high note for the sector’s sustainable frontrunners. The work does not stop here and we look forward to seeing what concrete proposals policymakers come up with to accelerate the decarbonisation of the heating and cooling sector and increase energy independence. So, yes: 2024 has been crucial and the course for 2025 is clear! ⏭️ Camille Vachet, Giorgia Andriola, Flora Wallace, Henry Kaeding

In case you missed it, we witnessed an encouraging commitment to the #cleanenergytransition last week! During his hearing, Dan Jørgensen described the transition as a moral imperative, emphasising that #decarbonisation not only boosts European #competitiveness but also raises living standards, ends dependency on Russia, and empowers citizens. He committed to presenting a strategy on geothermal energy that we believe, is one essential part of a broader, more holistic approach we've advocated for over the past years. On that same day, Henry Kaeding, Flora Wallace and Camille Vachet were at the Euroheat & Power Summit, and it’s clear: the missing pieces are coming together for a powerful push towards the needed decarbonisation of heating and cooling. The call to action across the board was strong: this must be a priority for the next European Commission and its future policies. Here’s why it matters and why the time to act is now:   💶 Affordable Heating and Cooling - With energy prices skyrocketing, many households struggle to pay their energy bills. In the EU, gas prices are significantly higher than in the U.S., underscoring the need for solutions like district heating featuring home-grown renewables to enhance competitiveness and bring down costs.   🌡️Climate & Energy Efficiency Goals - Decarbonising heating and cooling systems is essential to meet our #climatetargets. We can't afford to overlook this critical piece of the energy puzzle. 🔜 Energy Security & Independence - Reducing dependence on external energy sources is crucial for the EU’s resilience and autonomy. We witnessed inspiring interventions, including from: 📢 Krzysztof (Chris) Bolesta who emphasised the need for an affordable transition that benefits people’s health - and we need it urgently. Heating is a basic necessity. We all await a comprehensive heating and cooling strategy, and to make it a reality, we need to start this conversation now. 🏡 Leading Members of the European Parliament who impressed the audience with their preparation, knowledge, commitment, and enthusiasm. They bring the political certainty and ambition we need to keep moving forward towards #climateneutrality and ensure people feel comfortable and secure in their homes. #BringHeatHome: Inspired by these proactive policymakers, civil society groups are joining forces by launching this campaign as a strong coalition of partners advancing this crucial transformation. This is just the beginning! Their goal is to establish a continuous collaboration and knowledge exchange to drive the clean heating and cooling transition by sharing best practices from across the EU. The timeline to achieve EU energy security and independence has shortened in light of the recent U.S. election results, and the consensus to act quickly and comprehensively has grown stronger. It’s up to all of us to keep pushing for change. Now is the time to make decarbonised heating and cooling a reality! 

⚠️ Join our webinar on the impact of the US Elections for the US and Europe's green agenda 📆 Wednesday, 13 November @ 16:00 CET / 10:00 EST Following Donald Trump’s victory in the US Presidential Election, the future of the US clean energy policy is now unclear. What stance will the next U.S. administration take on the IRA and America's clean tech economy? Will Trump’s America First policy put additional pressure on European public budgets? Could a remake of trade policy affect the EU's ambitions? We invite you to join an interactive online discussion, featuring experts and cleantech voices from both sides of the Atlantic: 💡 Ben Dunham, founder of Dunham Law and Policy and former advisor to Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) 💡 Willem Vriesendorp founder of #SustainablePublicAffairs 💡 Gina Zejdlik, Policy & Government Affairs, Atlas Agro and former Chief of Staff to the Governor of Oregon 💡 Jules Besnainou, founder of Cleantech for Europe

Join us next Wednesday November 13 at 16:00 CET for our webinar to discuss the impact of the US election results on the EU green transition 🌱 Leading the conversation, we will have Washington-based attorney on energy and environmental matters, Ben Dunham and #SustainablePublicAffairs founder, Willem Vriesendorp. Make sure you don't miss out on our discussion by registering via the link in the comments below.

🌍 Does AI Have the Potential to Drive the Twin Transition? 🤖 Last Thursday, I had the privilege of moderating a thought-provoking panel on "Building a Sustainable, Competitive, and Social Europe with AI" at #TechforClimateAction Conference in Brussels. 📝My Key takeaways: 🇪🇺 From the European Commission: - AI for Climate Action Proving Effective: Digital innovation is accelerating climate solutions, enabling smarter adaptation strategies. - The Versatility of AI: From enhancing climate modelling to revolutionising water management, energy efficiency, and sustainable infrastructure, AI is proving to be a powerful tool across sectors. 🤝From Industry Leaders and Thinkers: - Data Quality Matters: High-quality, auditable data is key for tracking and managing emissions across supply chains. - AI-Driven Solutions Offer a Valuable Boost: Businesses that adopt AI not only improve sustainability but also enhance their competitiveness, positioning themselves as industry frontrunners. - Collaboration is Key! For Europe to lead in AI, we must adopt a more proactive, risk-taking approach to developing impactful AI use cases and fostering strong international partnerships. 🤔 Next on My Radar: 🌐 Energy Efficiency & Water Management of Data Centers: With AI's increasing environmental footprint, how can we balance its growing energy and water consumption with its benefits? I already have some frontrunners in mind, but feel free to reach out if you’d like to exchange ideas on this exciting topic! #GreenTransition #DigitalEconomy #DataCenters #TechforClimate ⚛️Quantum for Climate: Quantum computing has the potential to drive significant climate solutions by reducing emissions in some of the hardest-to-decarbonize sectors. It can also accelerate advancements in critical technologies like solar panels and batteries, which are essential for scaling up clean energy efforts. The future of sustainability may very well be quantum-powered! #QuantumComputing #ClimateTech #Sustainability #Innovation #CleanIndustrialDeal

Thanks, The School for Moral Ambition for working together on mobilising talent towards impact-jobs! Honored to be one of the host organisation and have a great fellow working with us on the protein transition (Marin :-). It was a pleasure to host everyone in #SustainableHub for the Brussels-part of the training - and a highlight to be addressed in such warm words by you, Rutger Bregman! Bravo for this idea, whose time has come. Special thanks to Jan-Willem van Putten and the team + Ellen Hof and the rest of the colleagues & Hub members who did trainings for the fellows (Europe Jacques Delors, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) and The Good Lobby - you rock!) And now, let's get the work started! Status quo, we are coming for you!

“Phasing out fossil fuels in heating and cooling is the gateway towards energy security, affordability, European industrial competitiveness, and essential climate action.” Exactly! ♨ We need to act now to decarbonise how we heat and cool our buildings – representing around half of our energy demand. 🎯 While the new European Commission portfolio allocation is currently the talk of town, Sigrid Friis and Aurélie Beauvais are making the case for the next Commissioner for Energy and Housing to prioritise the heating and cooling decarbonisation as pointed out in today's mission letter by President Ursula von der Leyen! 🛤 They explain how we are not yet on track for the sector to fully contribute to the EU meeting its climate targets, although complementary renewables and cleantech are ready to scale up and be deployed across the EU: #districtheating, #heatpumps, #solarthermal and #geothermal! It's time to accelerate the clean heating and cooling transition and #bringheathome! Camille Vachet, Henry Kaeding, Flora Wallace, Giorgia Andriola

In Euractiv's most read articles today: Our colleagues explain how China’s green ‘trojan horses’ are starting to divide Europe, and what can be done to stop China's unfair advance in Europe of its Belt and Road Initiative 2.0. https://lnkd.in/gtu5RyaV Leon de Graaf Dominika Floriánová Flora Wallace Giorgia Andriola #EU2040 #DraghiReport #China #Fitfor55 #CleanIndustrialDeal #EUETS #CBAM #BRI #Cleantech