This event has passed. Speakers’ presentations are available here.

The third webinar of the Canada-EU high-level exchange on energy efficiency in buildings, featured the European Commission, Natural Resources Canada, representatives from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the EIB and many representatives of cities and local authorities across Europe and Canada on May 18th, 2021.

The third of the Canada-EU series on energy efficiency and buildings, this webinar on local action was the most interactive yet. Watch the recording above to:

• Discover successful local initiatives across European and Canadian cities, from tracking climate goals to creating local incentive programmes, and training experts to execute energy efficiency measures.

• Learn how to access available technical and financial assistance tools supporting local actions for building renovations

• Meet and engage in a dialogue with city experts from across Europe and Canada in breakout groups about local priorities, tools, and needs to reach the climate goals

Agenda:

Welcome, housekeeping and agenda: Oliver Rapf, Executive Director, BPIE

Opening remarks: Cities delivering on European Green Deal & climate neutrality worldwide – Eero Ailio, Advisor, Energy Transition and Local Governance, DG ENER, European Commission

Session 1: Tools supporting local action from Europe and Canada

• European Local ENergy Assistance (ELENA), programme results and best practices for local energy efficiency projects – Louise White, Senior Engineer, Energy Efficiency and Small Scale Energy, ELENA, European Investment Bank
• Q&A with experts
• FCM’s Green Municipal Fund – Forward Together – Yi Liu, Senior Manager, Sector Development – Green Municipal Fund
• Low Carbon Cities Canada (LC3) – Enabling Urban Climate Solutions in Canada – Oscar Espinosa, Senior Advisor, Low Carbon Cities Canada (LC3) -Federation of Canadian Municipalities
• Q&A with experts

Session 2:  Interactive breakout sessions with leading cities

• Participants will be broken into smaller breakout groups to foster maximum stakeholder participation, networking, and learning. Small group discussions will be moderated by leading European and Canadian cities, including Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver, Lille, Utrecht, Ottawa, Valencia and Dublin.
• Interactive wrap-up from discussions

Closing remarks: Eero Ailio, Advisor, Energy Transition and Local Governance, DG ENER, European Commission

Read the full concept note

About the Canada-EU exchange

Disclaimer: This event has been organised with the financial support of the European Union’s Partnership Instrument. The opinions expressed are the sole responsibility of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.

Speakers:

Eero Ailio, Advisor, Energy Transition and Local Governance, DG ENER, European Commission

M. Ailio represents Commission services in the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, coordinates Covenant of Mayors Europe and advises senior management on energy transition. As Deputy Head of the Retail Markets Unit, he has contributed to the Clean Energy for All Europeans legislation, the launch of the Global Covenant of Mayors, developed concepts for the EC Communication “Delivering a New Deal for Energy Consumers”, the re-designed EU Covenant of Mayors, the EU Energy Poverty Observatory, the Clean Energy for EU Islands Secretariat. In earlier years he co-negotiated the Offshore Safety Directive (in reaction to the Deepwater Horizon disaster), agreements on satellite navigation (e.g. US-EU) and worked as career diplomat on security, humanitarian aid policies supporting also President Ahtisaari, Kosovo peace mediator. He has professional experience also from international finance, media and city administration. He has an MSc (Econ) from Hanken Business School Finland, was a Nordplus Scholar at Stockholm University and a USIVP participant.

Oscar Espinosa – Senior Advisor of Low Carbon Cities Canada, Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM)

Oscar Espinosa is a Senior Advisor of Low Carbon Cities Canada, within the national office at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM). He has a multidisciplinary background in managing transformational projects and programs within the public, private and not-for-profit sector spanning infrastructure, economic development and urban regeneration projects at the Greater London Authority in London, England, capacity-building and smart cities initiatives within Canadian communities, and continuous improvement efforts within Crown corporations. He continuously seeks to build bridges across stakeholders and areas of expertise to enable durable solutions for the benefit of all communities.

Yi Liu – Senior Manager, Sector Development at the Green Municipal Fund, Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM)

Yi Liu is the Senior Manager, Sector Development at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM)’s Green Municipal Fund (GMF). He has championed research and funding development activities that meets municipalities where they’re at and helps them to achieve their sustainability ambitions. He has diverse experience working on innovative technological and non-technological sustainability solutions in across public and private sectors.

Louise White – Senior Engineer, European Investment Bank

Louise White is a Senior Engineer from the European Investment Bank. She is working in the Energy Efficiency and Energy Advisory team whose role is to assess projects related to energy efficiency, as well as manage the joint EIB-Commission grant facility ELENA – European Local Energy Assistance – which supports the preparation of projects in this sector. She previously worked in Ireland’s National TSO (Transmission System Operator) EirGrid and has over 20 years experience in the energy sector.