Keynote address: The Future of EU Climate and Sustainability Governance
In his keynote, Jan Dusík reflected on the future of EU climate and sustainability governance in an era of overlapping crises and geopolitical uncertainty. He emphasised the importance of maintaining climate ambition despite political turbulence, economic pressures, and public fatigue, underscoring that the climate crisis directly impacts people’s security, health, and livelihoods. Dusík highlighted the importance of resilience, predictability, and international cooperation, with the 2050 climate neutrality target serving as a long-term anchor. He also outlined the Commission’s forthcoming 2040 emissions reduction target, a new EU framework for climate adaptation and resilience, and the role of science, carbon pricing, and diplomacy in driving the transition towards climate neutrality.
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Key Highlights
- Climate neutrality as a long-term anchor: the 2050 target under EU climate law provides predictability for governments, businesses, and citizens, ensuring policy stability across political cycles.
- 2040 climate target: the Commission will propose a 90% emissions reduction goal by 2040, grounded in scientific advice, economic modelling, and feasibility, with an indicative 72.5% cut by 2035.
- Carbon pricing and ETS: the EU ETS has reduced covered emissions by 50% in 20 years, generated €200bn in revenues, and is expanding to transport and buildings; a Social Climate Fund will protect vulnerable households.
- Adaptation and resilience: a new EU framework law will embed “climate resilience by design” in policies, infrastructure, and funding, responding to heightened climate risks and building on the EU Climate Risk Assessment.
- Geopolitics and competitiveness: climate policy is tied to energy security, industrial competitiveness, and global trade, with tools such as the Clean Industrial Deal and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
- Global leadership and cooperation: the EU seeks to keep the Paris Agreement on track, update its NDCs, mobilise climate finance, and promote carbon pricing globally, while countering resistance from major emitters.
- Science, communication, and trust: effective governance depends on scientific credibility, innovation, and making complex climate policies understandable to citizens, amid misinformation, populism, and geopolitical pushback.
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Speaker: Jan Dusík
He is the Deputy Director-General, EU and External Policy Coherence, Directorate-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA), European Commission
Mr Jan Dusík has spent his entire career in the environmental and climate policy and law. He worked at the Ministry of Environment of the Czech Republic for 12 years, including as the Minister of Environment in 2009-2010. In 2011, Mr Dusík became the Deputy Regional Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and was subsequently appointed as UNEP’s Regional Director for Europe, followed by serving as UNEP’s Principal Adviser on Strategic Engagement for the Arctic and Antarctic. In 2020, he joined the WWF Global Arctic Programme, leading the work on Arctic Sustainable Development and Governance. In 2022-2024, he held the position of the Czech Government Envoy for International Climate Negotiations. In September 2024, he was appointed Deputy Director- General in DG Climate Action of the European Commission.
Mr Dusík holds a doctorate in law from Charles University in Prague and a Master of Science degree from the University of Oxford (Environmental Change Institute).