A collaborative virtual workshop with the European Commission on Climate Change Economics and the European Green Deal

Addressing climate change and its impacts is a pressing issue that affects all countries in the world. The JVI region is no exception in this respect. In fact, temperatures in this region have risen somewhat more than the global average in the recent years. The chart shows annual mean surface temperature relative to the average over 1951-80 in the JVI region (red line) versus the world (blue line), illustrating that the additional warming mostly materialized over the past 20 years. This will likely lead to increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events along with a wide range of socioeconomic consequences. 

The JVI, in collaboration with the European Commission’s Technical Assistance and Information Exchange Instrument (TAIEX), organized a virtual course on Climate Change Economics and the European Green Deal during June 13-15, 2022.  

This 3-day workshop brought together the expertise of 12 lecturers from 7 different institutions and aimed to provide a clear framework to the participants when thinking about climate change, its consequences and policy options to address it. The course provided a broad overview of the economic challenges posed by climate change, focusing on the European Green Deal (EGD), which is the European Union’s comprehensive policy response to climate change. Further, it covered carbon pricing as a key economic policy tool to reduce carbon emissions, as well as ‘just transition’ policies to ensure the fight against climate change does not leave communities behind. On the last day, the workshop presented transition policies in the energy sector and the role that finance can play in enabling the transition. Finally, the course touched upon the impact of the EGD on neighboring countries.

The group of 36 participants consisted of experts with diverse backgrounds coming from central banks, ministries of finance and other government agencies from 18 different countries across the JVI region. The course was well received, with the topics covered and the lecturers’ encouragement to generate discussion in particular valued highly by the participants. 

Looking ahead, broader and deeper coverage of climate change, its consequences and mitigation and adaptation policies will remain important topics in the JVI curriculum. 

Maria Arakelyan, Economist, Joint Vienna Institute