Today (29 June 2021), the European Commission’s Scientific Advice Mechanism publishes two major documents on a systemic approach to the energy transition in Europe:
- An Evidence Review Report from SAPEA presents the latest scientific evidence and a series of evidence-based policy options.
- The Group of Chief Scientific Advisors’ Scientific Opinion, informed by this evidence, presents key policy recommendations.
In these documents, the experts underline that the energy transition is far from a purely technical challenge. To make the transition a reality, we need to solve a huge systemic problem, coordinating countless individual voluntary decisions on investment, consumption and behaviour across Europe.
This means transforming the entire European energy system — a change which will affect every part of our society and require huge investment during the transition. It must be done in a socially equitable way. And we already need to accelerate progress if we want to achieve the EU’s target of net zero emissions by 2050.
Professor Peter Lund, chair of the SAPEA working group that wrote the report, said:
“The SAPEA report does not recommend an unequivocal policy package for Europe, but rather a set of policy options addressing various important facets of the overall challenge of the energy transition to reach carbon neutrality.
“However, as a central conclusion, any successful policy must involve a carbon pricing mechanism, in both the EU Emissions Trading System and Effort Sharing Regulation sectors, that delivers a sufficiently high carbon price while putting the pricing in a socially just frame.”
Professor Nebojsa Nakicenovic, deputy chair of the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors, said:
“Achieving the full decarbonisation of the EU energy system by mid-century is possible, but it requires urgent and decisive action to integrate emissions-free energy sources and uses in a flexible way, creating a participatory environment that supports clean energy choices, and using the right combination of regulatory instruments are necessary steps to make this transition efficient, inclusive and fair.”
Professor Antonio Loprieno, the chair of the SAPEA Board, added:
“The transition of the energy system to tackle climate change is a key challenge and priority for the European Union, and its implications will impact on all parts of our societies, including a range of technical, economic, and social aspects. It is particularly important, that policymakers are well informed by science while making decisions on such complex issues.
“This report takes a multidisciplinary and systemic approach and provides evidence-based observations for achieving the EU’s emission targets by 2050 from an energy system transition perspective, thus brings the best and newest scientific knowledge into policymaking.”
Within SAPEA, the lead academy delivering the Evidence Review Report was Euro-CASE. Professor Tuula Teeri, the chair of the Euro-CASE Board, said:
“Thanks to the enthusiastic engagement of top experts, both from Euro-CASE and the other European academies within the SAPEA consortium, we are now able to present this comprehensive report to the European Commission. Our advice could not be more timely, as the EU prepares to publish its strategy for a zero-carbon future, at a time of extreme urgency of fighting climate change.”
