Fsr Energy & Climate

What will it take to decarbonise Europe’s non-ferrous metals industry? Adina Georgescu (Eurometaux) joins us to talk about the sector’s progress, challenges ahead, and the policy tools needed for a competitive, low-carbon future. Recorded at the EUI Climate Week in May 2025, as part of the LIFE COASE project.

#6 What's next for carbon markets? with Simone Borghesi by Florence School of Regulation

This is the second episode of a series focused on the findings of the Horizon Europe project CAPABLE (ClimAte Policy AcceptaBiLity Economic framework). The aim of this podcast series is to provide an overview of the CAPABLE project and draw attention to some particularly relevant findings. In this second episode we host Jeroen van den Bergh, full professor of environmental and climate economics at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. This episode with Jeroen will be focused on the need for clear guidelines for climate policy that all climate and policy scientists should agree about. The climate policy expert Jeroen will tell us about how to provide these clear guidelines through the 10 Commandments for climate policy design. CAPABLE is a research project funded by the Horizon Europe Programme under grant agreement No 101056891. It provides robust, resilient and actionable recommendations for the design of socially and economically acceptable climate policy measures

In this episode of the FSR Policy Briefcase (Season 2, Episode 5), hosts Leonardo Meeus and James Kneebone sit down with the Director of the FSR Transport area, Juan Montero. The group explore how and why contracts for railway services are tendered in the EU, which parts of the network are profitable, which require subsidies, and how various Member States approach these contracts differently. Drawing from Juan's recent Policy Brief, the discussion addresses the policy implications of why the EU is encouraging more tendering, issues conducting tenders, and how they can be resolved. Recorded in April 2025. https://cadmus.eui.eu/entities/publication/e7adec46-9f7c-5f68-851f-906ee8994ec9

In this episode we speak to Lorna Ritchie, Director of Public Affairs for the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM). We discuss the work of ICVCM and how new developments, such as the operationalization of the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism, will affect the Voluntary Carbon Market. The interview was led by Lea Heinrich, Project Associate at the Climate Team of the Florence School of Regulation and recorded during the LIFE COASE policy dialogue at the EUI Climate Week in May 2025.

In this episode of the FSR Policy Briefcase (Season 2, Episode 4), hosts Leonardo Meeus and James Kneebone sit down with FSR Research Associate Elodie Petrozziello to explore how European transport networks are evolving and why urban nodes are key to their successful modernisation. Drawing from Elodie's recent Policy Brief, the discussion covers the updated TEN-T regulation, fresh approaches to transport governance, and insights from the 'Florence Intermodal Forum'. The episode also highlights real-world examples of urban nodes - some leading the way, others falling short. Recorded in April 2025. Read the policy brief: https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/77172

#3 The case for CCUS in EU industrial decarbonisation with Christopher Jones by Florence School of Regulation

This is the first episode of a series focused on the findings of the Horizon Europe project CAPABLE (ClimAte Policy AcceptaBiLity Economic framework). The aim of this podcast series is to provide an overview of the CAPABLE project and draw attention to some particularly relevant findings. In this first episode, we want to give a general overview of CAPABLE, highlighting the main topics we are going to touch on, focusing on its policy impacts and contribution. The guests are Silvia Pianta and Johannes Emmerling. Johannes is a Senior Scientist at the European Institute on Economics and Environment (EIEE). He co-leads its low-carbon pathways unit and he is the scientific coordinator of the Horizon Europe project CAPABLE. His main research areas include climate change and energy economics, risk and uncertainty, and welfare economics and development. Silvia is a Scientist at EIEE and the deputy coordinator of CAPABLE. Her research focuses on environmental policy and politics. She investigates the determinants o

The 'FSR Policy Briefcase' Season 2 episode 2 covers "TEN-E", the EU policy for planning and building cross-border energy networks, in light of the Draghi reports recommendations. In particular, it explores the TEN-E's past achievements, its current role, and potential areas for improvement. For this episode, hosts Leonardo Meeus and Emma Menegatti are joined by Catharina Sikow-Magny from the Florence School of regulation. The conversation builds on Catharina's recently published Policy Brief, "Making TEN-E into a truly European project". The Draghi report identifies energy network investments as critical to Europe. However, the group discussed how it fails to fully acknowledge the already existing TEN-E framework in its recommendations. The discussion moreover explored the different routes for improvement including EU funding mechanisms, regional coordination, and permitting processes. See below for a link to the original Policy Brief https://fsr.eui.eu/publications/?handle=1814/77413

Making Capacity Markets Work for Energy Security and Market Efficiency In the first episode of the FSR Policy Briefcase - Season 2, hosts Leonardo Meeus and James Kneebone are joined by Emma Menegatti (FSR) to explore how capacity markets in the European electricity sector can be streamlined for better security of supply and market efficiency. Building on Emma's recent Policy Brief, the discussion unpacks the fundamentals of capacity mechanisms—what they are, why they matter, and the key reforms underway. The episode also highlights how relaxing cross-border requirements could enhance their effectiveness. See below for a link to the original Policy Brief: https://fsr.eui.eu/publications/?handle=1814/77492

Interviewed by the FSR team (Lea Heinrich and Chiara Canestrini), Simone Borghesi, Director of the FSR Climate area, and former Commissioner Andris Piebalgs share their insights from Baku, Azerbaijan, where they attended the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29).

The ninth episode of the ‘FSR Policy Briefcase’ breaks down Ursula von der Leyen's Political Guidelines for her next term as European Commission President. In this episode, regular hosts Leonardo Meeus and James Kneebone explain how the Political Guidelines might impact European energy and climate policy going forward, offer some of their views and interpretations on the details, and reflect on what insights previous episodes of the 'Policy Briefcase' can provide in understanding the next 5 years of energy and climate policy in the EU. They also point towards future Policy Briefs from the FSR that relate to key themes in von der Leyen's manifesto. The Political Guidelines can be found here: https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/e6cd4328-673c-4e7a-8683-f63ffb2cf648_en?filename=Political%20Guidelines%202024-2029_EN.pdf

The eighth episode of the ‘FSR Policy Briefcase’ breaks down the subject of 'contracts for difference' or 'CfD's' in the renewable electricity sector and explores some of the ways that innovative designs can help accelerate the energy transition. For this episode, regular hosts Leonardo Meeus and James Kneebone are joined by part-time FSR Professor and full-time DTU Professor, Lena Kitzing. The conversation takes as a point of departure the recent publication of Lena's Technical Report on this subject, co-authored with Anne Held, Malte Gephart, Fabian Wagner, Vasilios Anatolitis, and Corinna Klessmann. This episode builds on our previous two episodes with Leigh Hancher and Jean-Michel Glachant, which focused on different kinds of public and private 'long-term contracts' in general, including CfD's. In this conversation we discuss the history of CfD's, their relationship to other forms of long-term contracts and incentives within the renewable energy space, as well as the role of 'two-sided' CfD's in mitigat

The seventh episode of the ‘FSR Policy Briefcase’ unpacks the subject of 'long-term contracts' in the electricity sector and explores some of the ways that a fresh look at this tool could help deliver the energy transition. For this episode, regular hosts Leonardo Meeus and James Kneebone are joined by part-time Professor of FSR Jean-Michel Glachant. The conversation builds on the recent publication of his Technical Report on this subject, co-authored with Guillaume Dezobry, Leigh Hancher, and Emma Menegatti. This episode follows last month's 'part 1' episode recorded with Leigh Hancher on the same subject. Part 2 focuses broadly on the application of long-term contracts, or 'LTCs' as they are more commonly referred to, as well as some of what Jean-Michel considers to be the limitations and unknowns for LTCs and their role in bringing security and competitiveness to European industry. We learn about how LTCs could have helped during the previous energy crisis, and travel back in time even further to 2006 to

In this episode we speak to Dr. Sonja Peterson, Senior Researcher at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. We discuss the implications of introducing an EU ETS 2 for buildings and road transport in terms of welfare effects, predicted prices, and the future role of the land use, land use change and forestry sector (LULUCF). The interview was led by Marie Raude and Lea Heinrich, Research Associates at the Climate Team of the Florence School of Regulation, and recorded during the LIFE COASE workshop on the role of carbon markets in reaching carbon neutrality which took place in June 2024.

The sixth episode of the ‘FSR Policy Briefcase’ unpacks the subject of 'long-term contracts' in the electricity sector and explores some of the ways that a fresh look at this tool could help deliver the energy transition. For this episode, regular hosts Leonardo Meeus and James Kneebone are joined by part-time Professor of FSR Leigh Hancher. The conversation builds on the recent publication of her Technical Report on this subject, co-authored with Guillaume Dezobry, Jean-Michel Glachant, and Emma Menegatti. This is part one of a two-part series on this report. This first episode focuses on the definition and relevance of long-term contracts, or 'LTCs' as they are more commonly referred to, as well as some of what Leigh considers to be limitations or missed opportunities in the previous framing and application of these agreements in Europe in the past. We learn about the different kinds of LTCs, their uses, some important case studies shaping their governance, and how some other major global economies have s

In this episode we spoke to Yan Qin, Lead Carbon Analyst at the London Stock Exchange Group LSEG. We discuss recent trends and drivers of EU carbon prices, interactions between gas and carbon prices and price trends in the Chinese national ETS. The interview was led by Marie Raude and Lea Heinrich, Research Associates at the Climate Team of the Florence School of Regulation. This podcast was recorded in Florence during the EUI Climate Week 2024.

"The fifth instalment of the ‘FSR Policy Briefcase’ explores the why, when, and how of carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) in Europe. For this episode, regular hosts Leonardo Meeus and James Kneebone are joined by part-time Professor of FSR Christopher Jones. The conversation builds on the recent publication of Christopher's Policy Brief on this subject, linked below. CCUS technology and infrastructure has the highest value-add in the period during which Europe is still transitioning from fossil value chains to fully decarbonised value chains. For this reason, it needs to be deployed quickly, often retrofitted to existing industrial facilities. Christopher's Policy Brief presents a tentative vision for how a regulatory framework could be establsihed in time to maximise the effectiveness of CCUS technologies. See below for a link to the original Policy Brief https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/76181;jsessionid=9E2F6DCA9B2A1A82BF25195BD7A0034B"

The fourth instalment of the ‘FSR Policy Briefcase’ explores the subject of methane emissions, specifically the establishment of a Methane Regulation in the EU, as well as the increasing attention methane is receiving in the maritime sector, both maritime fuel emissions and leakages from LNG shipments. For this episode, regular hosts Leonardo Meeus and James Kneebone are joined by Andris Piebalgs of FSR and Maria Olczak of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (OIES), the conversation builds on the pair's recent publication of a Policy Brief on this subject. In a wide-reaching episode, the group discuss the extent of the methane emissions problem and why it has gained so much attention in recent years, the landmark inclusion of methane under the EU ETS, the complexity of regulating in an international sector like maritime, as well as some of the measurement technology used to ensure accountability. See below for a link to the original Policy Brief https://www.oxfordenergy.org/publications/the-decarbonisa

The third instalment of the ‘FSR Policy Briefcase’ explores European industrial policy following the energy crisis of 2021/22, specifically the role of clean hydrogen in the protection and continuation of existing energy-intensive industrial sectors as well as in generating new, clean industrial growth. For this episode, regular hosts Leonardo Meeus and James Kneebone are joined by Ilaria Conti of FSR and Jan Cornillie of the EUI's School of Transnational Governance (STG). The conversation builds on the recent publication of a Policy Brief on this subject, written by Jan, James, Ilaria, and Jos Delbeke. In a wide-reaching episode, the group discuss the state of play with the hydrogen sector in 2024, including the economic conditions, project-level progress, regulatory status, and the importance of capturing the intersectional and nuanced 'value' of clean hydrogen as not only a clean energy vector but also a vector for industrial transformation. See below for a link to the original Policy Brief https://ca