Jürgen Salay to present 'Climate Policy in the European Union' Nov. 30

Jürgen Salay, EU Fellow at the University of Washington, will present  'Climate Policy in the European Union'  at noon on Thursday, Nov. 30 in Science Lecture (SL) 150.

The talk, which is sponsored by Western's Political Science Department, is free and open to the public.

The European Union is probably the region of the world where most practical policy experimentation has taken place in the field of environment and climate change.  In the past twenty-five years the EU has developed a comprehensive set of domestic climate policies and has emerged as a global leader in international climate negotiations.  How has this been possible and what has been driving this development in the EU? 

In his talk, Salay will provide a background on the history of EU climate policy, explain the main objectives and targets for greenhouse gas emission reductions, and examine the importance of monitoring and reporting for effective climate mitigation.  He will also relate EU climate policy to international climate negotiations and discuss challenges for the future.

Salay is an expert on European climate policy with close to 20 years of professional experience in preparing, negotiating and implementing climate legislation on a national and European Union level.  He has worked extensively in the field of international and EU climate policy, including on EU policies and measures, the European Emissions Trading Scheme and climate co-operation with Russia and Eastern Europe.  From 1999 to 2009, he represented the EU in international climate negotiations.

Salay works as a civil servant for the European Commission where he is monitoring the implementation of EU Member States’ obligations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020.  In 2016 he supervised a report evaluating the implementation of EU climate legislation in its Member States.  Salay joined the European Commission in 2003 after four years as senior advisor with the Swedish National Energy Agency.  Before becoming a civil servant he was a researcher and advisor on Eastern Europe affairs focusing on energy and environment.

He holds a doctorate in Environmental and Energy Systems Studies from Lund University, Sweden, a master’s degree in Energy and Resources from University of California, Berkeley and a bachelor's degree in Economic History and East European Studies.  He is the 2017/18 EU fellow at The Center for West European Studies and the European Union Center, University of Washington.