7^th Franco-German Forum

Territories. Transport. Energy transition.

What is the societal impact?

October 21 2022

Palais Universitaire in Strasbourg

The cost of energy, housing and transport costs, and their predominance in the budgets of many households, is becoming a central social issue. For many Europeans, trade-offs in these areas play a central role in their lives: Where should I live? What accommodations will I have access to and at what cost? Which school should I choose? What kind of transportation should I take? The more modest the household, the greater the stakes and the more price increases due to the energy transition make life difficult. The Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine has accentuated the tendency, making it even more necessary to achieve European energetic sovereignty while maintaining the purchasing power of the middle class.

The urgency of responding to climate change has led to a proliferation of new laws, regulations and taxation, whose social impact remains unknown. Many aid systems fail to help the most financially vulnerable households. The same applies to the essential electrification of transport, a transition that has not benefited the working and middle classes, particularly those living in rural and peri-urban areas. Certain occurrences such as the rise of crude oil and fuel prices has created social movements like the bonnets rouges and the yellow vests.

Taking into account the social impact of the energy transition is therefore a necessity. The ambitions for climate and ecology for 2030, 2050 and 2100 should better organized and planned, fully integrating the social dimension. The planning should be at a territorial level. The energy transition must be sustainable, safe and socially inclusive. The most elementary link should be the area of home and work. In this framework, households should be studied through their life cycle: transport, jobs, schools and local hobbies. A socially livable transition can only be successful by avoiding social refusal and decline.

Managing the energy transition at a territorial level is a strong axis. The second is through innovation: sobriety and energy efficiency in all areas: housing, transport, planning, use of digital technology and data, renewed urban planning, as well as transport which is fluid, shared, intelligent and sustainable. A new geographical management and the use of innovation makes it possible to reconcile transition and social cohesion. It is under these conditions that we will accelerate.

Coordination: Nurten Avci, Gilles Bellamy, Mohamed Benbrahim, Ulrich Benterbusch, Frédérique Berrod, Rémi Borel, Catherine Brun, Sonya Ciesnik, Patrick François, Christine Goubet-Milhaud, Jean-Pierre Hauet, Thomas Hirth, Armand Laferrère, Antoine-Tristan Mocilnikar, Jean-Claude Perraudin, Hélène Peskine, Adina Toma, Bruno Trescher, Emile H. Malet.

Foreseen speakers:

… list to be completed with German speakers. 

Inscriptions                                                                                                                                        8:30am-9:15am 

Opening Ceremony                                                                                                                          9:30am-10:30am

Frédérique Berrod, Vice-president of Finance, University of Strasbourg

Emile H. Malet, Director de Passages-ADAPes and the Franco-German Forum

Louis Gallois, Former head of company (ADS et Airbus)

Thomas Hirth, Vice President for Transfer and International Affairs, Karlsruhe Institute for Technology

Jérôme Betton, Regional director ADEME Grand Est

Session 1      Territorial intelligence and resilience                                                           10:45am-12:30pm

New governance models and planning for territories

President of the session: Hélène Peskine, Permanent secretary of Plan Urbanisme Construction Architecture (PUCA), Ministry of ecology

Catherine Brun, Secretary General and Head of Strategy, Public Affairs, GRTgaz

Jochen Ehlgötz, Director, TechnologieRegion Karlsruhe

Christine Goubet-Milhaud, President of the French Union for electricity (UFE)

Lunch                                                                                                                                                12:45pm-2:00pm

Session 2   The impact of territories on the development of new sectors                         2:15pm-3:45pm

The hydrogen industry, batteries and electro-mobility

President of the session: Mohamed Benbrahim, doctoral student in public law, lawyer, University of Strasbourg

Nurten Avci, Director, EIFER - European Institute for Energy Research

Jean-Pierre Hauet, President of the scientific committee of Équilibre des Energies

Nadine Levratto, CNRS Research Professor, Head of EconomiX, Université Paris Nanterre

Ute Karl, EIfER Scientific cooperation manager and professor at KIT

Session 3   Piloting innovation and employment dynamics                                                   4:00pm-5:30pm

President of the session: Bruno Trescher, Vice-Dean in charge of the AES sector, Head of the DGEDD Master (Law and management of energy and sustainable development)

Ulrich Benterbusch, Deputy Director-General for Efficiency and Heat in Industry, Residential Buildings and Transport at the German Federal Ministry of Energy and the Economy (BMWi)

Dirk Scheer, Senior Researcher, Institut für Technikfolgenabschätzung und Systemanalyse (ITAS)

Alexander Schmidt, CEO/Founder at BABLE - innovation with cities and for cities

Jean-Claude Perraudin, ancien Adjoint à la Directrice des Relations internationales, Chargé des énergies renouvelables

Conclusion                                                                                                                                      5:30pm-6:00pm

Brice Lalonde, President of Equilibre des énergies, former minister