Thread by @tepsaeu

Starting now! "Climate Change and the Future of Europe" is our public debate co-hosted with @EuroInstRomania and we're LIVE on @YouTube!

Head over there to hear our experts' analysis first hand, or stick around for the Twitter highlights

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This public debate takes place in the context of the latest book TEPSA has published: "Climate Change and the Future of Europe: Views from the Capitals", co-edited by today's moderator Michael Kaeding (@unidue) alongside @JohannesPollak and @_PaulSchmidt

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.@EuroInstRomania Director-General Oana-Mihaela Mocanu gives an overview of the Institute's extensive and impressive research on #climate issues

To learn more about the Institute and its work within the TEPSA Network, check out our website! 👉 tepsa.eu/members/romani…

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This event features interventions from four leading experts: Eliza Vaș, Mihai Sebe, Alina Bârgăoanu and Ciprian Stănescu

Learn more about the speakers in our handy "Meet the Speakers" document! 👉 tepsa.eu/online-public-…

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After our moderator Michael Kaeding (@unidue) introduces the speakers and sets the scene for our discussion, we turn to @EuroInstRomania's @Eliza_Vas_ to present her analysis of the view from Romania on #ClimateChange

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"Romania endorses the #GreenTransition and is active in implementing policy to reach its targets, but this requires a series of economic and social costs, and several deep-rooted issues hinder Romania's action in this area"

- @Eliza_Vas_, @EuroInstRomania

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"Almost half of Romanian households use wood for heating, so local authorities have been calling for funding to increase the use of gas fuel as a transitional energy source. But funds to support green energy resources are limited"

- @Eliza_Vas_, @EuroInstRomania

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"Only 2/10 people in Romania can define the 'Circular Economy', so we must increase the general level of knowledge among citizens and support the development of green competence"

- @Eliza_Vas_, @EuroInstRomania

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We now turn to @Eliza_Vas_'s colleague and co-author of the Romanian chapter of TEPSA's book on this topic, @MihaiSebe83: "The elephant in the room is that the discussion of #ClimateChange is a discussion about politics and the society we want to live in"

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"Seeing the effects of climate change has pushed the conversation into the mainstream. This is progress, but we need to consider that our systems are structured in such a way that reacting to climate change effectively is still difficult"

- @MihaiSebe83, @EuroInstRomania

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"Climate change is also about #geopolitics: only jointly can this challenge be met. While discussing national perspectives is important, we cannot forget the rest of the world"

- @MihaiSebe83, @EuroInstRomania

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"Climate change is about inequality: we are not all affected in the same manner, at the same time. We have unequal impacts of climate change (geographically and socio-economically), and we have an unequal ability to take #ClimateAction"

- @MihaiSebe83, @EuroInstRomania

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We now turn to Ciprian Stănescu, President & CEO, Social Innovation Solutions: "climate change has no borders, so I echo Mihai's point about engaging the international community"

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"In Romania, I do not see businesses and citizens taking advantage of the opportunities which exist to lessen their climate impact"

- Ciprian Stănescu, President & CEO, Social Innovation Solutions

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"In recent years, we have seen an awakening among citizens, for whom two things are increasingly tangible: the rise of AI, and the impacts of climate change"

- Ciprian Stănescu, President & CEO, Social Innovation Solutions

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"Romanians are very much aware of climate change, and deniers are in a tiny minority: we don't have a challenge in acknowledging it. Where we do have a challenge is in changing people's day-to-day behaviour"

- Ciprian Stănescu, President & CEO, Social Innovation Solutions

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"Data shows we are beyond the +1.5 degree increase, and climate experts have in the past been always more optimistic than the reality: if predictions for 2030 are +1.5 degrees, you should expect +2 or even +3 degrees"

- Ciprian Stănescu

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"We have already lost the battle for a clean 2030, but we do have a chance for 2035: there is a lot of work still to be done"

- Ciprian Stănescu, President & CEO, Social Innovation Solutions

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Following Ciprian's conclusion, we turn to @BargaoanuAlina for her expertise on climate communication and the impact of disinformation

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"There are four main narratives of climate disinformation, often used in correlation with one another: denying the human role in climate change, accusing traditional media of causing panic, attacking renewables, accusing climate activists of hypocrisy"

- @BargaoanuAlina

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"After the pandemic, we see a re-emergence of hard denialism, borrowing from the vocabulary which tried to deny the existence of #COVID19"

- @BargaoanuAlina, Professor, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration

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"We need to increase awareness of climate issues in a very sophisticated way: is this becomes the main debate in the public sphere, we risk a heavy level of polarisation"

- @BargaoanuAlina, Professor, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration

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"We have to invest in climate change communication: this is a difficult discipline, requiring innovations in the way we communicate with citizens. Technological and social innovation is key"
- @BargaoanuAlina, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration
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After hearing the analysis by @BargaoanuAlina, Michael Kaeding turns to the audience for the Q&A session

We are always proud to give attendees to our events the opportunity to exchange with Europe's leading academics and practitioners

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After a dynamic Q&A, which you will be able to re-live in the soon-to-be-published video recording of this debate, our moderator Michael Kaeding thanks the speakers and passes the floor back to @EuroInstRomania Director-General Oana-Mihaela Mocanu, who closes the event

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We would like to thank our speakers @Eliza_Vas_, @MihaiSebe83, @BargaoanuAlina & Ciprian Stănescu, as well as to Oana-Mihaela Mocanu for her words of welcome and Michael Kaeding for moderating the discussion

Stay tuned for more from TEPSA and the @EuroInstRomania 💪

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