16 November was a day full of insights in Madrid when the Think2030 Spanish Dialogue occurred.
The event was organised under the EU Spanish Presidency by the European Environmental Policy (IEEP), the Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3), and the Elcano Institute. A key role in the organisation was also played the MAIA Project, coordinated by BC3 and member of the MAGICA Horizon Board; MAIA aims at making the currently dispersed knowledge on climate change-related R&I more interoperable, accessible, usable and economically viable.
The event featured three sessions focusing on the Science4Policy concept. It also included a keynote address by Teresa Ribera, Third Vice-President of the Government of Spain and Minister for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge and the opening remarks by Eero Yrjö-Koskinen, Executive Director, Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP).
The first session was centred on the role of the EU in governing the geopolitics of the Net-Zero transition and the entailed diverse processes. The second session focused on Just Transition in Europe and lessons learned from the Spanish experience, emphasising how the transition affects the job market.
The third session was titled “Science for policy – How to engage with policymakers? Lead by JPI Climate”. The session aimed to frame the issue of how to ensure constant interactions between science and policymakers. The session served as a stepping-stone towards the Equinox Summit II, scheduled for March 2024 in Brussels, Belgium, a milestone event of JPI Climate with the support of MAGICA to accelerate the provision to inform evidence-based decision-making.
Moderated by Frank McGovern, JPI Climate Vice Chair for the Equinox Process, confirmed speakers for this session are Myles Allen, Director Oxford Martin Programme on Post Carbon Transition, Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), Etienne Hannon, Head of Science-Policy at Belgium Climate Center (BCC), Nadia Pinardi, Co-Chair of the European Knowledge Hub on Sea Level Rise, Elena Lopéz Gunn, Member of the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change (ESABCC) and Martijn Pakker, Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP).
The leitmotif of the discussion was the need to develop compelling stories and narratives that are very understandable, touchable, and crucial to ensure that science gets to both the EU “Ivory Tower” and citizens. All such stakeholders must be involved in the conversation to embrace the transition entirely.
The Think2030 Dialogue Spain provided the space to further catch up on the role of EU policymakers in reaction to climate change, and its outcomes will feed the upcoming Equinox Summit in March 2024.
The full recording of the Dialogue is available to watch on YouTube.
Read more about the first Equinox Summit here.
