Claire Roumet

Policy brief: "Duty of care"

Last week I found out that most court cases run by citizens against their governments in the world are based on this common law term [1]. States have the duty to take care of us, and of their future citizens. And a government’s inaction against (...)

By Claire Roumet, on 15 April 2019 | 09h18 | 140 visits
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Policy brief: Make the EU Greta'gain

As spring is coming closer, you can still hear the sound of the youth protesting in the streets, waiting for us to take action, forcing us to face our own inconsistencies between the rhetoric and actual changes in society. I thought it was time (...)

By Claire Roumet, on 8 mars 2019 | 12h21 | 507 visits
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The youth revolution

I am not very fond of articles flaunting their author’s personal life. Yet, what I will remember from this January is the day my daughter asked me to sign an authorisation to march…for the climate. She is 14 and cannot skip school without (...)

By Claire Roumet, on 11 February 2019 | 08h27 | 465 visits
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Policy brief: "To change everything it takes everyone"

“To change everything it takes everyone” This was the theme of a day of debate organised by my favourite cultural place in Brussels (Kaaitheater)! What an inspirational formulation in such troubled times! Beyond the deep, emblematic crisis of (...)

By Claire Roumet, on 18 January 2019 | 09h49 | 711 visits
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Policy brief: Does the French new energy programme maintain the status quo or signal a shift in trajectory?

By some quirk of the calendar (or not), France unveiled its pluriannual energy programme the day before the European Commission was scheduled to publish its own long-term strategy. The latter plan, which should prove ambitious, is targeting a (...)

By Claire Roumet, on 10 December 2018 | 16h41 | 1083 visits
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Policy brief: Retrofutur, a counter-history of energy innovations

As first cold arrives, you just want to sit by the fire and travel without really moving. For once, in this "political" editorial, I’m going to talk about a book, an invitation to temporal and spatial exploration, an amazing itinerary through the (...)

By Claire Roumet, on 6 November 2018 | 09h42 | 901 visits
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Policy brief: A call for local liberties

A battle of figures and concepts is being fought in Brussels and the UN negotiations. Now is the time to translate the Paris agreement into practical action. There are those in favour of net-zero emissions, of negative emissions, of the utopian (...)

By Claire Roumet, on 16 October 2018 | 10h14 | 927 visits
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Summer homework : What do cities need ?

Tradition dictates that we take Summer workbooks with us to the beach. This year however, it’s just as school is starting up again that we need you to hand in your homework! In the dog days of Summer, we received a panicked request from the (...)

By Claire Roumet, on 10 September 2018 | 08h04 | 620 visits
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Policy brief: Claude Turmes pulling off another magic trick

What should we take home from this last sequence? • The Paris Agreement has shifted positions. In October 2014, the European Council approved a 40% GHG reduction target by 2030 , including targets of “at least” 27% for renewables and 27% for (...)

By Claire Roumet, on 2 July 2018 | 09h33 | 594 visits
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Air, Climate, Energy: all responsible

A hotchpotch of players On 17th May, the cities of Paris, Brussels and Madrid lodged a complaint with the European Court of Justice against the Commission for giving the car industry a right to pollute (Regulation (EC) No 692/2008 as regards (...)

By Claire Roumet, on 31 May 2018 | 09h55 | 713 visits
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Like a too long winter

The energy climate reminds me of the present weather conditions: a long, almost never-ending winter seems to go on and on. The sky clears for a moment and then back to heavy showers. You may object that this is normal weather in March; but it’s (...)

By Claire Roumet, on 6 April 2018 | 15h48 | 1286 visits
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Climate and Energy: Shift in national policies well underway

Time to be bold, time to clearly set the direction, and there is no ambiguity in the message passed: it is the end of fossil fuels. The centre right coalition which will now govern the country has made a number of announcements in that regard (...)

By Claire Roumet, on 13 October 2017 | 16h03 | 1701 visits
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#maketheplanetgreatagain through mobilising ALL stakeholders

By signing the Paris Agreement, the least developed States abandoned their claims for a fair share-out of this responsibility - a legitimate demand considering the carbon debt industrial countries have built up and continue to accumulate - and (...)

By Claire Roumet, on 12 June 2017 | 10h16 | 1100 visits
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What we achieved in 2015

The IEA’ World energy outlook showed evidence for the worldwide take-off of renewable energy. The forecasted energy future is clearly sustainable. The list of very positive moves is long. A few highlights: The Divest movement started to dry out (...)

By Claire Roumet, on 18 December 2015 | 09h26 | 1154 visits
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COP21 - Takeaways from week 1: Cities, power and Hollywood stars!

Energy Cities’ Board members have filled their COP21 agenda with quite a number of events. Le Bourget is an immense village where you can meet delegates from the whole planet, many of them running from one conference to the other. A huge crowd of (...)

By Claire Roumet, on 8 December 2015 | 09h58 | 1083 visits
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