Ritter made her comments during a high level roundtable meeting on Europe’s energy future. The ‘Efficiency and competitiveness through smart integration’ meeting was hosted by former President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek MEP as part of the Knowledge4Innovation Forum and chaired by Dominique Ristori, Director General at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Energy.
Climate-KIC, as the European Union’s main climate innovation initiative, interacts across global, EU, national and regional levels, thereby contributing to Europe’s competitiveness in the energy efficiency sector. Its major role is to address climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Competitive, secure and sustainable energy is widely seen as vital for a thriving European economy. According to Ritter there is a need for systemic development of the energy efficiency in the sector including investment and knowledge innovation, not just new technologies and inventions. This will in turn require innovation in design, finance, policy and regulation as well as demanding new types of collaboration drawn from across the public and private spheres to identify and generate opportunity.
Climate-KIC is set to increase its ties with global partners, connecting Europe with major developing markets in key carbon-producing nations such as China and Brazil and is expected to represent Europe’s climate innovation community on the international stage throughout the year.
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