Activity Roundup 2014-16
Since its inception in 2014, the Energy and Governance Group has endeavoured to pursue the latest in research and political discussion within the field of energy governance and energy security.
We have engaged in several activities, such as hosting our own workshop series, collaborating with our partnership groups in research, collecting a database of international contacts from highly diverse backgrounds within the field of energy in order to keep our academic research up to date and engaging, as well as initiating our very own blog series in 2015.
The E&GG is dedicated to not only engaging with current research and development in the field of energy governance we are also committed to increasing the publicity of energy governance and security, and with our close relationship to our university have the privilege of a close relationship between our professional team and the student body. We are pleased to state that our first in house manager for the past year, Shayne Halfpenny-Ray, a current student at Christ Church University, and working together with Reader in European Foreign Affairs, Dr. Amelia Hadfield, has helped to expand the research and events we are party to.
Energy and governance workshops
Firstly with the assistance of our partners we have hosted three successful workshops at the Canterbury Campus, and one at the UCL campus, all of which have covered a variety of topics in the energy governance area.
Our first Workshop was held on Thursday 12th June 2014 and its key themes and speakers were: “Unpacking UK Energy Governance” – Dr Caroline Kuzemko, Exeter University; “Sustainability and Intergenerational Equity as Global Strategic Problems: Insights from Law, Politics and Governance” – Professor Andrej Zwitter, University of Groningen, the Netherlands; “Unpacking EU Energy Governance” – Dario Cristiani, Associate Senior Analyst at the Global Governance Institute. This was followed by presentations from Joseph Dutton, Dr Sarah Lieberman and Dr Amelia Hadfield.
Workshop 2, held on the 14th November 2014, focused upon “EU-Russia Energy Relations: From Repression to Aggression” with guest speakers such as: Professor Peter Vujakovic, Professor of Geography in the School of Human and Life Sciences at CCCU, and Dr Simon Pirani, Lecturer of Russian History at CCCU as well as an Oxford Energy Studies Senior fellow, as well as, Dr Thomas Sattich from the Global Governance Institute and Dr Tatiana Romanova from St. Petersberg Institute in Russia. The core topics for discussion here were: “Geopolitics, governance and energy security”, “Russian foreign energy policy: Imperium Redux?” and “The European energy terrain: Fear and Loathing in Brussels?”
Workshop 3 was held on the 20th March 2015 and titled: “Deconstructing the European Energy Union: the Role of Governance and the 2030 Goals”. Each Workshop’s details are available on our website which also provides summary details, briefing papers, notes, photos and sound clips of the various Workshops which we make available to any and all interested parties.
Our most recent Workshop 4 was an engaging seminar on fossil fuels titled "How Fossil Fuel Consumption Shapes the Lives Communities Lead" at UCL on 1st October 2015. The importance of this event was discuss and highlight the centrality of fossil fuels to our life, a particularly pertinent point with the build up to COP21 and the climate change discourse of late 2015.
2015 rounded off with an insightful look at the challenges of European energy governance. On 27th November, Dr. Hadfield chaired an engaging discussion at the Chatham House event: “The Future of European Energy: Implications for Security, Competitiveness and Climate Change”. She was able to conclude the event by discussing a complete re-evaluation of the norms we associate with energy governance in order to encapsulate the multi-level, top-down, bottom-up style of governance within the European and international energy system. You can read more about the event in our Canterbury Politics blog post.
2016 and beyond
2016 will see E&GG continue to build on its external partner base and deepen its cross-faculty appeal by producing conference-based presentations, the preparation and completion of briefing notes, op eds, expert advice and a training workshop, as well as providing opportunities for students, including our manager, Shayne, to contribute in various ways. Shayne’s most recent experience in this respect was via an in-house seminar teaching on a level 2 Global Governance course. As he discusses in his own reflection on this activity, Shayne examined energy governance implications within the Gulf and Europe from the perspective of a variety of actors, discussing particular the emerging shape of his undergraduate thesis on International Energy Governance, and the challenges of promoting the complicated, yet-ever engaging world of energy governance and security.
Our next external engagement will see us cooperating with UKERC. UKERC’s annual flagship energy systems conference titled: “Energy systems challenges in a world in transition”, will take place between on the 22nd and 23rd of March, and will be held at Lady Margaret Hall, Norham Gardens, Oxford. It is set to discuss the statutory carbon targets pushed through at the COP21 summit as well as the state of the energy markets since the dramatic fall in oil prices worldwide. At this event, Dr Hadfield will not only be discussing her work on European energy security and governance, but using the opportunity to present the briefing notes on this topic produced within the Energy & Governance Group, examining the achievements and challenges of the first year of the EEU, as well as some of the more recent structures flowing from it and here will be particular reference to the foreign policy implications of the EEU. Shayne, the E&GG Manager, is currently preparing briefing notes on European energy security and governance as well as the recent initiative of “Europe 4.0” by the Vice President of the European Commission Maros Sefcovic. Entailing a brief analysis of these various issues, the E&GG Briefing Notes 2016 will be made available online and distributed at the UKERC conference to further strengthen the visibility of the Energy & Governance Group.
Lastly, Dr Hadfield’s perspectives alongside co-author Antony Froggatt of Chatham House on the very subject of “Deconstructing the European Energy Union” were commissioned in the form of an op.ed. by the UK energy industry publication, New Power. Here, Amelia and Antony dissect the European Energy Union and examine what it has achieved since it was announced in 2014. There is an in depth analysis of the language and main points of contention emanating from certain parts of the policy proposals, for example the 2030 renewable energy target which are binding on the Union but not the member states individually.