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Experts warn that the fight against climate change must not clash with universal access to energy services

The 10th International Academic Symposium, on green opportunities for the energy sector, held at the University of Barcelona (UB), brought together some of the world’s leading experts in the field of energy and environmental sustainability, who stressed the threat that climate change poses to the world and the need for a new growth strategy to support an effective and fair transition towards low-carbon, climate-resilient activities.

Shonali Pachauri, a researcher from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (Austria) and one of the keynote speakers at the event, explained that “efforts to meet policy objectives to mitigate climate change are not at odds with progress towards universal access to energy services”.

During the opening address, María Teresa Costa, full professor of Economics at the UB and director of the Chair of Energy Sustainability, focused on “the need to enjoy the financial support of public and private sources to promote clean research and innovation”, explaining that “this green funding is crucial to developing new sustainable technologies and disruptive innovations that will allow us to further decarbonize the energy system, to guarantee that buildings are more energy efficient, to speed change towards sustainable smart mobility, and to mobilize industry towards a clean circular economy”. She went on to say that “the transition will lead to significant structural changes in the workforce, remodelling competences by updating and improving skills, critical facilitators for achieving a sustainable economy”.

The Symposium was opened by the Rector of the UB, Joan Guàrdia, accompanied by the President of the Barcelona Institute of Economics Foundation, Martí Parellada Sabata, the Director of the Chair of Energy Sustainability and IEB researcher, María Teresa Costa Campi, and the UB economics professor and research José García-Quevedo.

The event, organized by the UB’s Chair of Energy Sustainability, affiliated to the Barcelona Institute of Economics (IEB), gathered researchers and experts from universities across Europe. This tenth edition of the Symposium, which saw a return to face-to-face attendance (a streaming option was also offered), demonstrated that it remains among the most prominent forums in Europe on the subject of energy.