Welcome to the summer issue from the EEIST team!

Dear EEIST Community,

Welcome to the EEIST summer newsletter!  Since February the EEIST teams have organised and held workshops and training sessions in Brazil, India and China, which has helped the team strenghten relationships within our Communites of Practice.  These events have be in person and virtual, (more details below). 

We are pleased to share a summary of the project  here. In the last newsletter we shared details of the EEIST consortium conference at Wilton Park.  The report is now available. You can find the latest addition to EEIST's policy brief series; 'Hidden disparities on the road to Net-Zero' here.  

Please see below for more detailed updates of events that the team have run, such as the Bonn Climate Change Conference.

We look forward to updating you next time with EEIST's final country reports. 

Wiishing you a warm and restful summer!

The EEIST Team

Europe

EEIST are currently collaborating on a vision paper with colleagues from across the EU around the use of energy systems models for policy advice. This will feed off the research carried out under EEIST and bring in the expertise from a range of modelling communities across the EU. This vision paper is being led by the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) and Centre of Excellence on Energy Transition Models. It aims to inform a better dialogue on the use of (alternative) models within the EU and how best policymakers can engage with the modelling community.

China

The China Community of Practice has shifted gear from a largely outward-looking set of events and activities in 2022, to more focussed efforts on the final country report for China. The report, expected in late 2023, will take a deep dive comparing UK and China modelling of the Chinese power sector.

The team were also delighted to hold a 3-day in-depth EEIST training programme at Tsinghua University in Beijing in late June. This country report will also use systems mapping techniques to comprehend and communicate the intricacies of the Chinese power sector. The training was over-subscribed, and attended by graduate students and researchers working in academia and think tanks.

Brazil

After the series of successful events in Brasilia (at Escola Nacional de Administração Pública (ENAP) attracting Ministries and secretaries of current administration) and Rio de Janeiro (to the technical team of the Brazilian Development Bank BNDES ) in February 2023, the Brazilian team joined with the international teams of EEIST at Wilton Park in the UK.

The meeting was fundamental to support cross country learning as well as meeting possible funders, including representatives of the the Bezos Earth fund, which has shown interest in investing in developing countries such as the Brazil. The Brazilian team was present at most sections of the conference, involving the presentations of (1) the CPR lead Andrea Roventini (Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies) giving results of engagement activities in Brazil during the EEIST programme, (2) the UFRJ Professor Carlos Eduardo Young giving an overview of the Brazilian industrial export situation and tendency to increase the production of carbon intensive commodities, and (3) Unicamp Professor Marcelo Pereira showing the overall peculiarities of Brazilian macro-economic and emissions patterns against other economies. Among those >40% of emissions come from land use (>25% from deforestation), >10% from road transport, <10% form electric power (where >70% of electric production comes from renewables, and mainly hydroelectric), and >5% from the traditional industrial sector. All these peculiarities define important differences against other countries, requiring specific modelling policy research in the EEIST programme and beyond.

India

In May 2023, Cambridge Economterics conducted in-person training in New Delhi on E3ME & FTT for researchers from TERI, WRI India, and NITI Aayog. This was an introductory week-long session (preceded by an online overview) delivered by Michael McGovern and hosted in TERI’s office.

TERI and WRI India organized a workshop titled “Accelerating clean energy innovation and system transition in Indian industry” on 15th June in New Delhi. Speakers included representatives of government (Ministry of Steel, NITI Aayog), business (Tata Steel, We Mean Business, Global Cement & Concrete Association) and thinktanks (ICRIER, RMI India), with about 70 attendees. Jon Stenning of Cambridge Econometrics, Varun Agarwal of WRI India, and PRK Sobhanbabu of TERI presented modelling analysis on decarbonization pathways for the harder-to-abate Indian industry sectors and the emission reduction potential of interventions such as energy efficiency, green hydrogen, and increased circularity and demand reduction in key industrial sub-sectors such as steel. This was followed by a panel discussion on the opportunities and challenges associated with their uptake at scale, such as access to technology and finance and the impact of emerging international regulations like Europe’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).

Jon Stenning also gave a public lecture in the Energy Studies Program, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University on “Economics of the energy transition: unpacking impacts from global to local”. It was attended by about 90 faculty, students and guests.

Jon Stenning, along with TERI and WRI India also met NITI Aayog officials on 14th June to Mr Rajnath Ram, Adviser (Energy), Venugopal Mothkoor, Prashant Regy, Swapnil Morande, Anjali Jain of the Energy vertical, and Joseph Teja of the Transport vertical. They also met the British High Commission on 13th June to update on EEIST research and synergies with other climate policy work in India.

UK

There is considerable interest in EEIST's work and training domestically from the UK government. More details will follow in the next issue.

Exploring Economics Conference - 4 May 2023

Peter Barbook-Johnson, Simon Sharpe and Fernanda Senra de Moura attended the conference to present a selection of case studies of new economic modelling from the EEIST project applying new economic modelling to energy and climate policy analysis in China, India, Brazil, the EU, and UK. The aim was to consider how the UK government can start making more use of these approaches and the broader implications of the project’s findings for the UK. 

EEIST Training Sessions - Beijing

The China team are delighted to share that the recent EEIST training sessions, held in Beijing, were a remarkable success. Over the course of the training, we witnessed an incredible turnout, with each session accommodating between 30 to 50 participants. The participants, drawn from diverse backgrounds and specialties, work directly with Chinese policymakers towards energy transition. The dynamic interaction created a vibrant atmosphere that not only promoted learning but also strengthened connections among the participants. The team were especially thrilled by the positive feedback received and the number of promising leads generated during these discussions.

80 years of Joseph Stiglitz

Andrea Roventini presented the work of Sant’Anna which was included in the latest EEIST report at the Festschrift for the Nobel Prize Joseph Stiglitz.

Professor Andrea is also going to present the same report at the Society for Computational Economics conference in Nice in July.

Bonn Climate Change Conference - 5 June 2023

Building on the mandates that emerged from COP 27 in Egypt last year, the conference hosted a large number of mandated events and continued discussions on issues of critical importance, such as the global stocktake, global goal on adaptation, just transition, loss and damage and the mitigation work programme. The conference is expected to make progress on these and other important issues and prepare draft decisions for adoption at COP 28 / CMP 18 / CMA 5 in the UAE in December 2023.

EEIST Policy Brief

Hidden Disparities on the Road to Net-Zero: 

Identifying areas of opportunity and risk 

Cormac Lynch, Yeliz Simsek, Jean-Francois Mercure and Femke Nijsse.

A net zero transition could generate impacts on employment and trade that are more drastic than economy-wide metrics might suggest. This policy brief uses a highly regionally and sectorally detailed macroeconomic model to investigate the potentially uneven nature of the transition. Diversifying local economies through transformative policies will likely be key to avoiding post-industrial decline in areas currently reliant on carbon-intensive industry.

You can read the full policy brief here. 

Wilton Park Report

Due to COVID-19, Wilton Park presented the first opportunity for members of the EEIST consortium, spread across India, China, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, to meet in person. The conference encouraged new relations to be forged and existing ones to be strengthened, both within the EEIST community and with representatives from governments and international organisations. Three days of structured discussions consolidated our understanding of the developments in each region, including key findings and challenges faced over the three years of research conducted thus far, as well as conversations pertaining to the future of the programme.

The report summarises key outcomes of the discussions and important themes that emerged throughout the conference. You can read the report, and more information on the discussions here.

Our newsletter is published quarterly: please send news and events to Sarah Board: s.board@exeter.ac.uk by 15th september.  The next newsletter will be published at the end of October/November 2023.