Archives des News - Page 18 of 29

Meeting of the Task Force on Fighting global warming in the EU through carbon pricing targeting, coupled with border adjustment mechanism

Posted on 2 July 20206 August 2020 by the_bridge_tank

The Bridge Tank contributed to the Task Force on Carbon Pricing in Europe working group led by former French Minister of the Economy Edmond Alphandéry. With the support of Pascal Canfin, Chairman of the European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, it brought together ministers, members of the European Parliament, representatives of think tanks, academics, members of the business community, as well as European authorities and policy makers from various EU member states.

The enormous challenge to overcome the Covid-19 crisis should not hide the most disturbing phenomenon that awaits us: global warming. At European level, the “European climate law” which aims to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 rightly intends to create a “predictable business environment for industries and investors”. In this regard, this event will examine the introduction of carbon pricing targeting into the European emissions trading scheme. Targeting a predictable price of carbon over time in the ETS would eliminate its current volatility. This stable price environment for energy use decision-making would be a powerful incentive for companies to predictably reduce carbon emissions and thus stimulate investment in the energy transition. As such, this device would go a long way toward achieving the Green Deal’s “net zero greenhouse gas emissions” target. The meeting also explored the economic and social issues linked to the introduction of this measure and focused on the implementation of a carbon adjustment mechanism in the EU.

These proposals met with strong interest from European decision-makers, ranging from Frans Timmermans and Pascal Canfin to ministers from four countries, and personalities such as Pascal Lamy and Laurent Fabius.

At the invitation of Edmond Alphandery, former Minister for the Economy, alongside Pascal Canfin (Chairman of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety of the European Parliament) and the former Minister for Italian finance Siniscalo – today VC at Morgan Stanley, including several European ministers and EU DGs, The Bridge Tank’s Joël Ruet & Bridge Tank Board Member Raphael Schoentgen contributed to the pan-European workshop on carbon prices in the framework of the EU ETS reform and the border adjustment mechanism, vouching for these ideas as a core tool without excluding bridge tools for certain energies being deployed such as hydrogen, and the possibility of transition support funds for technologies maturing or by the time the carbon price reached threshold values.

In a very direct discussion with Frans Timmermans, (Executive Vice-President of the European Commission), and the main economists of the Macron Committee on the Economy, and Pascal Lamy former Director General of the WTO on “The European Green Agreement and the role of carbon pricing”. Mr. Timmermans shared with us his optimism on new energies, on all the green industries that are accelerating today, including hydrogen, and for a tripling of the electrification of European energy and an exit from coal. He also shared his wish for an original European vision on energy voluntarism shared with Africa. A great moment of debate.

During the last session of this fantastic working group on the price of carbon set up by Edmond Alphandery, former Minister of the Economy, Jochen Flasbarth, Secretary of State for the Environment, for Nature Conservation, construction and nuclear safety at the German Federal Ministry, Leonore Gewessler, Austrian Federal Minister for Climate Action, the Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology, Hugo Morán, Spanish Secretary of State for the Environment, Brune Poirson, Secretary of State to the French Minister for the Ecological Transition, agreed that the EU should consider a carbon adjustment mechanism at the border, not as protectionist measure, but so as to foster economic modernisation and contribution to a local public good. Brune Poirson added the dimension of climate finance and social acceptance – France and Germany are aligned on this point.

Joël Ruet recalled the need to take into account the energy transformation opportunities in Southern Europe, a theme validated by Mr. Flasbarth and Ms. Gewessler, and discuss these matters in confidence with China and India, a key point of attention of The Bridge Tank.

Former Prime Minister Laurent Fabius assessed the Paris Climate Agreement and the contribution that the new “EU team” can make to it: in a framework that must remain compatible with the WTO, ideas on carbon pricing and the adjustment of carbon prices at the borders are progressing. Mr. Fabius also pleaded for consultation or at least information with our partners, including India and China, a subject to which The Bridge Tank is attentive.

T20 Web Conference: Policy Recommendations for a Post-COVID-19 World

Posted on 16 June 20206 August 2020 by the_bridge_tank

Joel Ruet presented the views of the Bridge Tank-convened working group on Promoting Southern actors’ direct access to the Green Climate Fund to de-risk projects and raise additional climate finance flows, written by Joël Ruet, Alessia Ameghini, Adel Ben Youssef, Ban Le, Celine Bak, Alexandre Borde, Paolo Giudici, Axel Michaelowa, Kang Rongping, Aman Srivastava, Leena Srivastava, Anbumozhi Venkatachalam.

Both the 2020-horizon USD 100 billion mobilization for climate and 2025 renewed target remain elusive. Climate negotiations are heading for a deadlock. The largest among multi-lateral climate funds, the Green Climate Fund, targets “greater paradigm-shifting mitigation and adaptation impact”. Structuring and scaling up climate financing implies to focus on differentiating between various risk appetites.

To encourage private additional flows, the G20 should support the GCF’s strategy of efficiently accrediting more Southern actors, becoming a facilitator of blended North-South-South public-private finance and an “educated risk-taking” Fund. This would defuse the climate negotiations crisis and accompany structuring climate finance.

T20-PB02.-Draft-1st-June-Final-without-Notes-1 Télécharger

Exchanges and proposals on industry with the Chinese Embassy in Paris

Posted on 11 June 20206 August 2020 by the_bridge_tank

On June 11th, Joel Ruet exchanged views on the international situation with the Chinese ambassador in Paris and French personalities including former ministers Hubert Védrine and François Loos, former Elysée diplomatic advisers Maurice Gourdault-Montagne and Jean-David Levitte, experts Emmanuel Dupuy, Barthelemy Courmont and General Jean-Bernard Pinatel.

Several speakers pointed out that the United States has a position on the substance that will be sustainable even if the form would change with the eventual election of Mr. Biden.

François Loos and Joel Ruet jointly mentioned the persistent difficulties in framing a bilateral China-EU investment treaty, as well as the need to re-industrialise. The Bridge Tank stressed the need for a territorial approach for France that is outside the Anglo Saxon framework focused on “all trade” but also goes in the direction of framing practices between the EU and China.

Ruet stressed that industrial discussions remain at the end of the cycle despite optimistic bilateral statements, recalling with other participants that the 17+1 dialogue must also be brought closer to the EU in order to prepare for the China-EU Summit in Leipzig.

How does the pandemic impact the competition between the United States and China?

Posted on 30 May 20206 August 2020 by the_bridge_tank

An Issue Brief, by Ambassador Philippe COSTE.

Tensions between the two competitors are escalating, China’s situation vis-à-vis the United States is likely to strengthen and global governance is even more severely lacking than in the past, calling for more of European contruction.

Download the French text

► Not only the two powers which hold in their hands a good part of the fate of the planet show themselves little penetrated by their responsibilities towards multilateral insttutions, but everything happens as if the latter have become the closed field of a struggle for influence between the two superpowers.

► Nevertheless the appreciation of a China that would have gained a relative advantage needs to be qualified. Before the “mask diplomacy”, the Europeans were divided with regard to China: a little wary but very interested in continuing to do business with this country of cocagne. Since then, the proportions have been reversed: Europeans are still interested in doing business but are clearly more suspicious.

► It is only more urgent that Europe, mobilizes itself even more energetically to call the world to reason. Obviously, between the disputes over Brexit and those over financial solidarity between countries of the North and the South, and with the overwhelming short-term deadlines which beset European governments, the task is not easy, to say the least. But that is not a reason not to try it, with faith and persistency, as it is the only possible way.

Flattening Curves & Lifting Lockdowns in EUROPE – A better method for estimating infection rates

Posted on 28 April 20201 June 2020 by the_bridge_tank

This paper presents a comparative analysis of the COVID-19 outbreak across ten major European countries. It identifies the best and worst performing countries in flattening the curve and promotes a new statistical method for estimating the ‘reproduction rate’ (known as ‘R0’) to analyse individual countries and specific regions, to better target lock-down or easing of lock-down policies and explore the best, fastest and most secure policies, as we prepare for a possible second wave.

The most important criteria for successfully flattening the curve have been early lockdowns. This has had a determining effect on the “epidemic reproduction rate” R0. There remains a significant divergence between the R0s which European governments are reportedly basing their policy decisions on, and the figures presented in this paper. This means that several European countries may under-estimate the extent to which their infection rates are being curtailed and their outbreaks are under control.

Download the report by clicking here.

On Africa and the “Pangolin effect”

Posted on 20 April 20208 July 2020 by the_bridge_tank

Issue Brief, by our Board Member, Mamadou Lamine Diallo, former Head of Political Cabinet to the President of the Commission of the African Union.

Diallo sets out directions for African leaders framing their destiny, in contrast with China’s vision for the Continent, with the backdrop of a note by the French Foreign Affairs, wary on Africa’s answer to the Covid19 that created heated debates. Diallo, on the contrary, uses this “usual forecast exercise” to stimulate African leaders boldness.

Read the Issue Brief (in French)Download

FLATTENING THE CURVE – A pan-European comparative analysis of the COVID-19 outbreak

Posted on 15 April 20201 June 2020 by the_bridge_tank

A new report published by the Bridge Tank compares the outbreak of COVID-19 across ten major European countries.

This ground-breaking analysis identifies the best and worst performing countries in Europe, and the reasons behind their respective performance in flattening the curve.

Italy, Spain, France, UK, The Netherlands and Belgium are the most severely hit by the outbreak and have struggled to flatten the curve efficiently.

This is mostly explained by the delay in implementing proper lockdown and social distancing measures.

France could soon overtake Italy, and UK is still witnessing an increase of the number of confirmed cases and deaths.

Greece is the best performing country in Europe, followed by Czechia (The Czech Republic) and Romania.

Thanks to early and strict containment measures, they have successfully managed to flatten the curve and slow down the spread of the virus

The contrast between Greece – which suspended public events and closed schools even before the first 100 cases were detected, and Spain – which took similar decisions at a much later stage of the epidemic – is particularly striking.

Germany seems to be an outlier. Though its lockdown measures have been implemented relatively later and not fully, the number of deaths has not reached the levels met by its neighbours but is still progressing quickly in relative terms.

Joel Ruet, Chairman of the Bridge Tank, stated: “In the sea of data about Covid-19, one indicator stands out: the doubling rate of deaths and confirmed cases. It allows to measure how well countries are flattening the curve. With the exception of Germany, we see a strong correlation between an early lockdown and subsequent success in controlling the spread of the virus.”

Read and download the report here.

MULTIMEDIA

The Bridge Tank, an independent economic think-tank, is an active member of the T20, the think tank group of the G20. Since the COVID-19 outbreak in China, the members of the Bridge Tank have regularly published on the epidemic and advised numerous governments. The Bridge Tank also mobilised a working group on the future of global health governance to provide recommendations to the UN.

Joel Ruet, Founder and Chairman of The Bridge Tank, is a French economist at CNRS and Ecole Polytechnique. He studied and worked in France, China, India, Senegal and UK. He is a regular commentator on global affairs in international media and speaker at major conferences.

For any media enquiry, please contact: administration@thebridgetank.org

Coronavirus Shows Healthcare Needs Global Governance

Posted on 12 April 20201 June 2020 by the_bridge_tank

BY IRINA BOKOVA, HAKIMA EL HAITE, GEORGE PAPANDREOU, JOËL RUET

We firmly believe it is time to re-consider every country’s health security, using global governance tools that already exist. If we have the will and resources to invest into financial stability or limit global heating, why is health security not on the table too?

https://www.diplomaticourier.com/posts/coronavirus-shows-healthcare-needs-global-governance

African solutions for the African lockdown

Posted on 5 April 202026 May 2021 by the_bridge_tank

Hakima el Haite, President of Liberal International, Joël Ruet and Iman Zbib wrote together and article for La Tribune entitled “African solutions for the African lockdown” on the 4th of April 2020. They highlighted the importance of African initiatives to help population go through lockdown, so that the important solidarity funds internationally gathered are used as efficiently as possible. Among the suggested solutions are prevention campaigns, an increased Internet connectivity, financial support distributed through mobile telephony, the installation of water tanks in city districts, the establishment of mobile health units and the blocking of roads by the state and the army to enforce a lockdown without any travel between.

Healthcare needs global governance

Posted on 19 March 202026 May 2021 by the_bridge_tank

By Irina Bojova, Hakima El Haite, George Papandreou, Joël Ruet.

Irina Bokova, former Director-General of UNESCO, Hakima El Haite, President of Liberal International, George Papandreou, former Prime Minister of Greece and President of Socialist International, and Joël Ruet co-published an article in Diplomatic Courier and La Tribune. It was entitled “Healthcare needs global governance” and published on the 12th March 2020 in French and 19th March in English. They argued that a health global governance had to benefit from a permanent, collective and ambitious handling, especially ahead of crisis.

The four authors called for a permanent connection to be established between research centres, as well as a global network of medicines and medical supplies and a “WHO Academy”. This academy would bring together a permanent panel of pandemic crisis experts, bid data scientists, socio-economic experts, and philanthropy and emergency organisations, as well as a fund dedicated to financing any crisis acceleration. A future stock of vaccines dedicated to the less fortunate, in the South as well as in the North, must also be prepared.