On Tuesday 28 November 2023, colleagues from MARE unit A4 organised the first workshop on Financing the Energy Transition for Fisheries and Aquaculture for members of the Energy Transition Partnership (ETP). More than 80 participants joined in person and online to exchange on one of the main challenges, namely financing the energy transition of the sector.
After the launch of the Energy Transition Partnership in June, this was the first meeting and the first of a series of workshops for the members of the Energy Transition Partnership in EU fisheries and aquaculture. The event was the perfect opportunity to start the conversation among different stakeholders in the sector about financing the energy transition and gathering input for the roadmap for the Energy Transition in EU Fisheries and Aquaculture.
The workshop was moderated by Stephen Davies, Adviser to the Deputy Director-General. Delilah Al Khudhairy, Director for Maritime Policy and Blue Economy, welcomed all the participants and invited stakeholders to participate actively. The first part of the workshop began with the introduction of the Guide on Finance Opportunities for the Green Energy Transition of Fisheries and Aquaculture and presentations on the different EU financing tools that can be used by the sector, specifically EMFAF, BlueInvest and the European Investment Bank. It was followed by a presentation of the Pilothy project financed by the Brittany region, France, to explore the use of Hydrogen in fishing vessels.
The second part of the workshop took the format of splitting the participants (those in-person and online) into breakout groups in two interactive sessions to gather feedback and input from the ETP stakeholders: the morning session on the challenges to access funding to enable the energy transition in fisheries and aquaculture; and the afternoon session on the solutions for funding the transition in the sector. It also proved to be a great opportunity to create a space for networking and knowledge sharing among the participants.
This successful workshop in the collaborative spirit of the ETP has provided a detailed overview of the main challenges faced by the different stakeholders to access funding, as well as their needs and perspectives. It will be used as a starting point to continue working towards the decarbonisation of the sector and to further prepare and draft the roadmap of the Energy Transition Partnership for EU fisheries and aquaculture that will be presented by the end of 2024. The next workshop of the Energy Transition Partnership will cover Innovation and research and will take place on 28 February 2024.
Presentations are now online. Contact us for further details.
Speakers:
- Liliia Akatova, Policy analyst at ICF, presenting the Guide on Financing Opportunities for the Green Energy Transition of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
- Eoin Mac Aoidh, Deputy HoU, DG MARE.D3, CFP and Structural Support, Policy Development and Coordination, presenting the opportunities available through the EMFAF.
- Claus Schultze, DG MARE.A1, Maritime Innovation, Marine Knowledge and Investment, presenting the opportunities available through Blue Invest.
- Jean Francois De Saedeleer, Sectoral engineer at the European Investment Bank, presenting the opportunities in the EIB.
- Sebastien Crom, representant of the Région Bretagne, presenting an example of a green investment in a vessel in Brittany (Pilothy Project).
Moderator:
Stephen Davies, Adviser, Strategic Foresight, Research and Science in Ocean Policies, DG MARE.
Details
- Publication date
- 18 December 2023