Friends Of Europe Podcasts

Anders Marvik, Vice-President for EU Affairs at Statoil, on the need for significant investment increases to reach climate goals.

Ingrid Holmes, Director at Third Generation Environmentalism (E3G) and Member of the EU High-Level Group on Sustainable Finance, on how the Capital Markets Union is contributing to low-carbon infrastructure development.

Mark Lewis, Managing Director, Head of European Utilities Research at Barclays Investment Bank and member of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), on the rapid pace of development in the low-carbon technology sector.

Michael Wilkins, Managing Director, Global Head of Environmental and Climate Risk Research at S&P Global Ratings and Member of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), on the relationship between infrastructure and sustainable development.

Ugo Bassi, Director for Financial Markets at the European Commission Directorate-General for Financial Stability and Financial Services, describes the priorities of policymakers in facing climate change challenges.

The event was organised on the occasion of the launch of the Friends of Europe report 'Crunch time: France and the future of European defence'. Speakers included the report's author Paul Taylor, former NATO secretary-general Jaap De Hoop Scheffer and Julia De Clerck-Sachsse (EEAS).

Our Café Crossfire debate discussed ways to adapt to the low-carbon future for businesses and financial institutions. Speakers included Ugo Bassi (European Commission), Ingrid Holmes (E3G), Mark Lewis (Barclays Investment Bank), Anders Marvik (Statoil), Michael Wilkins (S&P Global Ratings).

Jacques Bughin, Director of the McKinsey Global Institute, puts refugee flows in perspective, by outlining that refugees are only ten per cent of migrants globally.

Belinda Pyke, Director for Migration, Mobility and Innovation at the European Commission Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, provides figures on third-country nationals living in the EU.

Deputy Mayor of Amsterdam Kajsa Ollongren describes the city's approach to integrating refugees into the labour market.

Paul Mbikayi, Director of the Refugee Talent Hub, talks about his experience in making refugees' work valuable to society.

Yara Al-Adib, founder of 'From Syria With Love', explains how their organisation empowers women refugees by giving them a purpose and a role in the society.

Jürgen Siebel, Head of Portfolio and International Business at Siemens Professional Education, describes Siemens' approach to vocational education as a powerful instrument to integrate migrants.

Mogens Peter Carl is a former director-general of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Trade and Directorate-General for the Environment and author of ‘How to (Br)exit: a guide for decision makers’. This interview clip is from BBC World Service ‘Newshour' programme, broadcast on 29 March 2017. Download the episode at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04xm48k

The event was part of Friends of Europe's Migration Action programme. The debate brought together experts and policy makers from a range of groups, including Jürgen Siebel (Siemens), Belinda Pyke (European Commission), Kajsa Ollongren (Deputy Mayor of Amsterdam), Paul Mbikayi (Refugee Talent Hub) and Yara Al-Adib (From Syria with love).

Benedek Jávor MEP describes the action of the EU and of the European Parliament to contrast deforestation.

Brendan McNamara, Head of Global NGO Engagement at HSBC, explains HSBC's criteria for financing sustainable businesses.

Danielle Morley, European Director of Outreach and Engagement at the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), calls for cooperation in finding sustainable solutions to palm oil rising demand.

Nazir Foead, Head of the Indonesia Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG), describes Indonesia's action in forest conservation.

Sebastien Risso, Director of EU Forest Policy at Greenpeace Europe, calls for major political actions for the European Union to become a deforestation-free economy.