Nov 25th 2016 at Waseda Campus, Waseda University
“The Climate and Energy Policy Workshop” was organized by RIEEM on November 25th, 2016 at Waseda University. The event was attended by graduate students and academicians from various fields. The Director of RIEEM, Professor Toshi H. Arimura, warmly welcomed all the participants and presenters. The Director also provided the participants with background information on RIEEM and on its policies and future research agenda.
Professor Jennifer Sklarew of the Center of Energy Science and Policy at George Mason University, USA, and Dr. Noriko Fujiwara of the Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS) presented at the workshop.
Professor Jennifer Sklarew presented “Power Plays: Institutional Influences on U.S. Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Policies” and covered a variety of decarbonizing policy instruments, including “Renewable and Portfolio Standards” (RPS), “Feed in Tariffs” (FITs), “Emission Trading Systems” (ETSs), “Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiatives” (RGGIs) and “Clean Power Plants” (CPPs), currently enacted and applied in the U.S. The policy making process, the politics of energy policies and the difficulties faced in applying the above policy instruments in the policy making and implementation phases were presented and spurred interesting discussions. Economic incentives that can facilitate compliance and the circumstances under which these incentives may fail to deliver the intended benefits were also highlighted.
Dr. Noriko Fujiwara presented “the EU environmental policy making process: the example of climate policy.” The presentation informed the participants of the structure of EU policy making and the roles of the European council, the Council of the EU, the European Parliament and the European Commission in policy making. Strategies, initiatives, and goals of climate policies in the context of the EU were presented. Dr. Fujiwara also described the achievements of policies already in place and several goals that are unlikely to be achieved, such as the “reduction of energy consumption by 20 percent” by 2020 and the reduction of “greenhouse gas emissions to below 1990 levels by 40 percent” by 2030.
The participants felt that the workshop was very relevant and timely in its organization by RIEEM. The adoption of the Paris Agreement and current energy politics have created new avenues for research and have attracted the interest of researchers of various backgrounds. The lively discussions and exchange of ideas that occurred clearly showed that the participants appreciated the complexities of energy policies and potential questions that the academic community can pursue in contributing to energy policy making.
The workshop concluded with satisfied participants and with a note of appreciation from the Director of RIEEM.
