On 18 September 2023, the International Energy Charter Industry Advisory Panel (IAP) and the Alliance for Industry Decarbonization (AFID), held a joint roundtable “Strategies & technological solutions for achieving carbon emissions reduction under the -1.5 C° scenario,” organised by the Energy Charter Secretariat as a side event at Climate Week NYC 2023.
This hybrid event, hosted by Eni in New York, USA, was attended in person and online by over 120 participants, including the IAP members, representatives of Governments, industry, international organisations, financial institutions, investment companies, research centres, and business associations.
The event participants were welcomed by Ms Atsuko Hirose, Deputy Secretary-General of the Energy Charter Secretariat, who emphasised the role of the Energy Charter in promoting the private sector investments in the energy sector needed to meet the enormous cost of decarbonisation; Mr Marco Margheri, Head of USA International Relations Office, Eni, who focused on the need for partnerships and collaboration among various stakeholders; and Mr Rafael Cayuela, the IAP Chair and Chief Strategy Officer & Corporate Chief Economist at Dow EMEAI, who referred to the “Code Red” for the humanity as stressed by the UN Secretary-General and the need to scale up the available technology urgently.
The lively and interactive panel discussion ensued, focused on the topics to reach common goals in line with the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as industry’s approaches to achieve carbon emissions reduction, policy incentives and long-term strategies to stimulate industry decarbonisation, the need for engaging with a wide group of stakeholders, including the local community, in the development and implementation of decarbonisation programmes, scaling up of enabling technologies and infrastructure, and opportunities for green financing and investment.
Mr. Rich Voorberg, President, Siemens Energy, North America; Mr. Wouter de Groot, Vice President, Sustainability, FLSmidth; Mr. Bruce Douglas, Chief Executive Officer, Global Renewables Alliance; Mr. Nour Sobh, Senior Advisor - Corporate Energy Sourcing, Eurelectric; Ms Mikki Corcoran, Vice President, Sustainability, SLB; and Mr. Nunzio Peleggi, Managing Director, Business Development, DNV; and Mr. Christian Spano, Director, Innovation, ICMM, participated in the discussion in person. Mr. Rafael Cayuela, Chief Strategy Officer & Corporate Chief Economist at Dow EMEAI; Mr. Hans Korteweg, Managing Director, COGEN Europe & Executive Director, COGEN World Coalition; Mr. Ivan Pineda, Director of Innovation, WindEurope; and Mr. Bogdan Simion, Data Analytics Advisor, Gas Infrastructure Europe joined the event via video call.
In her concluding remarks, Ms Atsuko Hirose called for deepening the collaboration between the IAP and the AFID and suggested holding such a discussion on strategies and technological solutions for industrial decarbonisation as a periodic event, which was supported by a number of in-person participants.
The Industry Advisory Panel is the expert consultative body of the Energy Charter Conference, providing policy advice from energy companies, international business associations and financial institutions on energy investment and the functioning of energy markets. The Panel includes 63 members from all sectors of the energy industry and from a wide range of Members and Observers of the Energy Charter Conference.
