Policy Dispatch: The FORESIGHT podcast on the policies underpinning the energy transition

‘Impossible’ is not in the vocabulary of Swiss explorer and environmentalist Bertrand Piccard. He was the first person to fly non-stop around the world in a hot air balloon and the first to do the same in a solar-powered plane.Piccard is firmly of the belief that society has all the tools it needs to solve the climate crisis, but there is perhaps something currently missing: enthusiasm and the will to act. That is why his latest adventure involves piloting a hydrogen-powered plane around the globe, to show the world that it can be done.One of the world’s greatest living explorers joins the Policy Dispatch to explain his thinking behind this latest endeavour and to inject a dose of hope into the climate and energy debate.Enjoy the show!Want a free one month trial? Sign up, download the award-winning app and enjoy complimentary access to all exclusive features for one month. Click here to access.Enjoy the episode? Leave a comment and tell us what you thought!

Wind power in Europe continues to set records. Concerns over supply chains and geopolitical issues have posed challenges but have not derailed progress.Developments in the North Sea continue at a great pace but it is not Europe’s only resource for wind power. Other areas, some of them far-flung and unexpected, show great potential to provide clean electricity for all of Europe.That potential is now being tapped, as technological advancements and policy shifts gradually unlock zero-carbon generation on the Atlantic coast, in the Mediterranean, Baltic, Black and even Caspian seas.WindEurope CEO [Giles Dickson](https://www.linkedin.com/in/giles-dickson-98607229) joins the podcast to talk more about far far away wind farms, the general state of the sector and some of the challenges that still need to be overcome.Check out more information about WindEurope’s annual event in Bilbao [here](https://windeurope.org/annual2024/).Enjoy the show!Want a free one month trial? Sign up, download the award-winning app and enjoy complimentary access to all exclusive features for one month. Click here to access.Enjoy the episode? Leave a comment and tell us what you thought!

Electrification of road transport has asserted itself as the leading decarbonisation for four-wheeled vehicles. Manufacturers are investing billions in new EV models and governments are following suit with the infrastructure needed to power them.But there is more to electric cars than just a battery and a plug. A whole host of data-related interoperability issues affect how EVs function and will have a significant impact on how quickly and effectively this new generation of vehicles are rolled out.Eurelectric energy and climate policy officer Ivan Asen-Ivanov joins the Policy Dispatch to explain in more detail about these fine-tunings that need to happen to boost EV uptake, as well as lifting the lid on a new report that dives even deeper into the topic.Want a free one month trial? Sign up, download the award-winning app and enjoy complimentary access to all exclusive features for one month. Click here to access.Enjoy the episode? Leave a comment and tell us what you thought!

Indonesia is the world’s eighth biggest polluter and one of the most populous countries on Earth. Its energy system is largely reliant on coal and its economy is propped up by mass exports of the polluting fossil fuel.But there is appetite to break coal’s hold over Indonesia’s energy future. A $20 billion partnership between the island nation and wealthier countries could hold the key to sparking a green transition. It is just a drop in the ocean but if the cash is invested wisely, it could act as a trigger for longer-term sustainable changes.The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air’s Katherine Hasan joins the episode to explain the sheer scale of the challenge facing Indonesia and how the shift towards green power could actually play out.Enjoy the discussion!Want a free one month trial? Sign up, download the award-winning app and enjoy complimentary access to all exclusive features for one month. Click here to access.Enjoy the episode? Leave a comment and tell us what you thought!

The majority of countries around the world have some sort of coastline. That means that they have access to natural resources that could soon make a substantial impact on the energy transition: waves and tides.Water is a proven energy source: countries with the right geography have used hydropower to generate green electricity for decades. Now the power of waves and tides, which can also spin turbines, is starting to garner attention. The technologies already exist and new innovations are being trialled at select sites around the world. Now the sector needs investment to scale up.Rémi Gruet, CEO of Ocean Energy Europe, joins the Policy Dispatch to explain the potential of the sector, what is needed to unlock gigawatts of clean energy and how wave and tidal power is a great complement for more established renewable technologies.Want a free one month trial? Sign up, download the award-winning app and enjoy complimentary access to all exclusive features for one month. Click here to access.Enjoy the episode? Leave a comment and tell us what you thought!

COP28 generated plenty of headlines during the two weeks it ran. Emission pledges, new alliances, policy agreements, informal deals and various other announcements flooded the airwaves and email inboxes. Add in the emotional aspect that is now a hallmark of top level climate talks and you would be forgiven for finding the whole thing an overwhelming ordeal.That is why more than a month on from the summit, Sam is joined by Linda Kalcher, executive director of pan-European think tank Strategic Perspectives, to look back at what happened in the United Arab Emirates. Linda shares her thoughts on the big issues that were dealt with at the summit and what it all means for policymakers as 2024 gears up to be yet another defining year for the energy transition.Thanks for listening, enjoy the show!

Methane is the greenhouse gas that often lives in the shadow of its more infamous cousin, carbon dioxide. But methane is a massive problem nonetheless due to its fast-acting impact on the climate. Global action is starting to take off and will be on the agenda at the COP28 summit. The European Union recently agreed on new rules that will aim to reduce leaks and ensure that imported fossil fuels adhere to strict standards. The Environmental Defence Fund’s senior director for the EU energy transition, Flavia Sollazzo, joins this edition of the Policy Dispatch to discuss those new rules and explain why it is essential that everybody does more to reduce methane emissions. Thanks for listening, enjoy the show! If you have any thoughts or questions about anything that has been discussed in this week’s episode, you can reach us at our Twitter accounts: Flavia Sollazzo: https://twitter.com/Sollazzoff Sam Morgan: https://twitter.com/SamJamesMorgan @Policy Dispatch: https://twitter.com/PolicyDispatch Kira Taylor: https://twitter.com/KiraTaylor15 FORESIGHT Climate & Energy: https://twitter.com/FORESIGHTdk Listen and subscribe to Policy Dispatch wherever you get podcasts. Follow us on Twitter at @Policy Dispatch or email us at show@policydispatch.com. You can also find FORESIGHT Climate & Energy on LinkedIn. Show notes: See them at: https://foresightdk.com/pd-ep28 TRY FULL ACCESS TO FORESIGHT CLIMATE & ENERGY FOR €1 A DAY Join over 100,000 policymakers, energy experts in business, finance, and academia, city leaders, and leading NGOs in having access to FORESIGHT Climate & Energy GET YOUR 30-DAY TRIAL: www.foresightdk.com/subscribe/.

New Zealand Aotearoa is infamous for its breath-taking scenery, remote location in the Pacific Ocean, all-conquering rugby team and being the backdrop for the Lord of the Rings. 'The Land of the Long White Cloud' is, like every other country on Earth, presented with some difficult and complex energy transition hurdles that will have to be overcome. Governments have attempted to address these climate and energy issues by launching an emissions trading system, establishing carbon budgets and aiming for a completely clean power grid. This is all with a 2050 net-zero target firmly in mind. Are the policies in place enough to get New Zealand on track? Or are they insufficient to hit that mid-century benchmark? Where must the heavy lifting be done and why is climate neutrality such a difficult prospect for what is comparatively a small country? Internationally-recognised climate expert Dr Christina Hood joins Sam for this Policy Dispatch episode to explain the true scale of the job facing New Zealand. Enjoy! If you have any thoughts or questions about anything that has been discussed in this week’s episode, you can reach us at our Twitter accounts: Dr Christina Hood: https://twitter.com/cjhood71 Sam Morgan: https://twitter.com/SamJamesMorgan @Policy Dispatch: https://twitter.com/PolicyDispatch Kira Taylor: https://twitter.com/KiraTaylor15 FORESIGHT Climate & Energy: https://twitter.com/FORESIGHTdk Listen and subscribe to Policy Dispatch wherever you get podcasts. Follow us on Twitter at @Policy Dispatch or email us at show@policydispatch.com. You can also find FORESIGHT Climate & Energy on LinkedIn. Show notes: See them at: https://foresightdk.com/pd-ep24. TRY FULL ACCESS TO FORESIGHT CLIMATE & ENERGY FOR €1 A DAY Join over 100,000 policymakers, energy experts in business, finance, and academia, city leaders, and leading NGOs in having access to FORESIGHT Climate & Energy GET YOUR 30-DAY TRIAL: www.foresightdk.com/subscribe/.

Transport in the Balkans leaves a lot to be desired. Badly connected and lacking investment, the region sorely needs a mobility policy boost. This week, one of the top officials tasked with doing just that joins the show. In Europe’s southeast, the Balkan peninsula has a transport dilemma. Relatively short distances between cities take hours to navigate and what should be a well-connected region is anything but. Motorway expansion is the go-to government option while rail and waterways often only get the scraps. Given transport’s substantial contribution to our emissions surplus, this makes for an interesting climate policy case study. If the Balkans gets its transport act together, who knows what other green objectives the region could achieve? As six countries vie for EU membership, one international body, the Transport Community, aims to help integrate those nations into the pan-European bloc to both accelerate their membership applications and make the transition a smoother ride. That means helping governments adopt EU standards and rules so that they can tap into funding, as well as making recommendations on what kind of policies should be prioritised. This week Sam is joined by the Transport Community’s director, Matej Zakonjšek, to discuss the difficulties the region is facing, what kind of transport options the Balkans should focus on and why these EU-hopefuls could actually outstrip their northern neighbours if the right decisions are made soon. Enjoy the show! If you have any thoughts or questions about anything that has been discussed in this week’s episode, you can reach us at our Twitter accounts: Matej Zakonjšek: https://twitter.com/MZakonjsek Sam Morgan: https://twitter.com/SamJamesMorgan @Policy Dispatch: https://twitter.com/PolicyDispatch Kira Taylor: https://twitter.com/KiraTaylor15 FORESIGHT Climate & Energy: https://twitter.com/FORESIGHTdk Listen and subscribe to Policy Dispatch wherever you get podcasts. Follow us on Twitter at @Policy Dispatch or email us at show@policydispatch.com. You can also find FORESIGHT Climate & Energy on LinkedIn. Show notes: See them at: https://foresightdk.com/pd-ep23. TRY FULL ACCESS TO FORESIGHT CLIMATE & ENERGY FOR €1 A DAY Join over 100,000 policymakers, energy experts in business, finance, and academia, city leaders, and leading NGOs in having access to FORESIGHT Climate & Energy GET YOUR 30-DAY TRIAL: www.foresightdk.com/subscribe/.