Can Europe Stay the Course on Climate Policy

The panel discussion What Questions Will Shape Europe's Future? From left: Anton Olsson, Advisor at ImpactEurope; Pia Högset, Senior Advisor at ImpactEurope; Elena Fersman, VP Head of AI Innovation & Incubation and Head of Silicon Valley Site at Ericsson; John Hassler, Professor of Economics at Stockholm University; and Filip Johnsson, Professor of Energy Systems at Chalmers University of Technology.

During this year´s Almedalen Week, Filip Johnsson, Professor of Energy Systems at Chalmers University of Technology and a member of Sweden's Climate Policy Council, took part in two seminars with different starting points but a shared theme. One focused on the role of research in climate policy, while the other explored how climate policy, AI and energy systems will shape Europe's future competitiveness.

Looking back on the week, one issue stands out for him.

"Much depends on the climate policies that will be pursued in the years ahead - both in Sweden and across the EU."

At the seminar The Climate Challenge and Climate Policy - What Do Politicians Want to Know from Researchers?, members of the Swedish Parliament and other political representatives had the opportunity to put their questions directly to a panel of researchers.

"My impression is that most politicians who work closely with energy and climate issues have great respect for research and listen carefully to what researchers have to say."

At the same time, he points to a development that concerns him. During the seminar, participants discussed how several senior national politicians have dismissed scientific findings as mere opinions.

"One issue that came up during the seminar was that several senior national politicians have dismissed researchers' findings as opinions. The same has happened with conclusions and recommendations from the Climate Policy Council, of which I am a member. That is not a healthy development and risks undermining trust in both research and climate policy."

At the same time, he stresses that this does not reflect his own experience of engaging with policymakers.

"I certainly did not get the impression that the politicians on the panel failed to take research seriously. On the contrary, the politicians I meet in my work seem to take both energy and climate issues very seriously."

For Filip Johnsson, the most important message to policymakers is the need for stable and predictable framework conditions.

"The most important thing, in my view, is that politicians stand behind a predictable climate policy. Sweden has some of the best conditions in Europe for the green transition, and we need to make the most of that."

The following day, on 26 June, he joined the seminar What Questions Will Shape Europe's Future? alongside John Hassler, Professor of Economics at Stockholm University, and Elena Fersman, VP Head of AI Innovation & Incubation at Ericsson.

Once again, climate policy took centre stage.

"I thought it was a very stimulating discussion. The direction of EU climate policy over the next few years will be crucial for climate action."

At the same time, he sees a risk that Europe's climate ambitions could weaken as the EU Emissions Trading System tightens and more difficult political decisions lie ahead.

"We had a stimulating discussion in which John Hassler was somewhat more optimistic than I was. I certainly hope that the Member States will continue to stand behind EU climate policy. However, I do see a risk that politicians will be tempted to weaken the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) as the free allocation of emission allowances is phased out and the price of emission allowances rises. So far, the Swedish government has stood firmly behind EU climate policy, which is encouraging."

The discussion also turned to AI and digital technologies. From Filip Johnsson's perspective, the connection between rapid technological development and future energy systems was clear.

"We had an interesting discussion about the future of AI and digitalisation more broadly. Elena Fersman contributed an insider's perspective on AI development, while I highlighted the growing demand for electricity resulting from the rapid expansion of data centres. At the same time, there is a major opportunity to recover the waste heat generated by cooling these facilities and use it in district heating systems. That is why it is important, wherever possible, to locate data centres where this heat can be utilised. We need a strategy to make that happen."

Tags:

Updated 29 June 2026, 16:15Published 29 June 2026, 18:10

Leave feedback