IKEM was part of the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24) which took place in Katowice, southern Poland. As it is IKEM’s approach to protect our climate globally, IKEM participated and organized different side events during the conference.
The Global Covenant of Mayors Day at COP24
IKEM was present in the 2nd Session: “Ensuring a fair and just transition to a 1.5 world: long-term climate change strategies”. The panel was conformed as follows: Andreas Wolter, Major of Köln; Lan Marie Berg, Vice Mayor of Oslo; the head of the climate, energy strategies of Paris, Yann Francoise; and Dr. José Mercado representing IKEM, Gewobag, and the SenUVK. During IKEM’s intervention, the lessons learnt from implementing Low-Carbon Residential Districts in Berlin trough different ongoing research and implementation projects where discussed. The presentation pointed out the interrelationships between the building and the transport sectors and the implications of accelerating the implementation of low-carbon district solutions in the city of Berlin, by implementing concepts and business models from the circular economy approach.
The intervention was well received by the other panelists and the audience, who raised questions regarding the social aspects related to low-carbon housing district development and providing integrated mobility solutions in Berlin. Moreover, attention was paid to the ongoing discussion regarding the transition to a circular housing construction industry, where interesting parallels were fund in the experience of Paris when implementing the “Paris Circular Economy Plan” in 2017. The later highlights an interesting path ahead and fits the ongoing discussion between IKEM, the Deutsche Umwelt Hilfe, IRBau, and the EcoLogic Institut, regarding the implementation of the Circular Economy approach in Berlin’s housing industry.
IKEM meets the Taiwan Research Institute at COP 24
During the Reception organized by the Taiwanese delegation at Hotel Katowice for the delegation members and partners. IKEM representatives got together with representatives from the Taiwan Research Institute (TRI) to discuss potential collaboration and bi-lateral knowledge transfer in the fields of energy, transport, climate change, and climate finance. TRI’s representatives attending the getting to know meeting were: Dr. Young KU, Vice-President; Mr. Jen-Yi Hou, Deputy Director Research Division I (that focuses on the fields of energy policy, energy economics, electricity management, environmental policy, renewable energy development); and Mrs. Maria Yu-Hsin Chiang, TRI’s Secretary based in Berlin.
The TRI is chartered by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of china as a privately funded non-profit organization. Its mission is to engage in the planning of Taiwan’s overall strategic development and the in-depth study and analysis of Taiwan’s public policy, and to promote ultimately Taiwan’s long-term modernization. Finally, TRI dedicates itself to the general public as a non-partisan specialized think tank; therefore, many synergies and potential for further cooperation between the two institutions were found.