Europe’s Climate Goals: An Agenda for Prosperity and Security
The European Green Deal was launched in 2019 to make Europe the world’s first climate neutral and resilient economy, and to decouple economic growth from resource use. Six years later, the ambition has become even more important for Europe, and for the world, but the global context has considerably changed. In his address to the IIEA, Director General Vandenberghe explains the relevance of the Green Deal and how it will be taken forward, in Europe and internationally, amid rapidly changing and increasingly volatile global circumstances.
This event is part of the IIEA’s REthink Energy series, organised in partnership with ESB.
Speaker bio:
Kurt Vandenberghe was appointed Director General of DG CLIMA in January 2023. From December 2019 to January 2023, he was the Green Deal and Health Advisor to President Ursula von der Leyen. Previously, he was Acting Director for Research & Innovation Outreach, Director for Policy & Programming, and Director for Climate action and resource efficiency at DG Research and Innovation. He also served in the Cabinet of Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin (1999-2004), and as Head of the Cabinet of Janez Potočnik, who was Commissioner for Research and Innovation (2004-2009) and subsequently for Environment (from 2010). Mr Vandenburghe joined the European Commission in 1996 as co-ordinator of the Commission’s Intermodal Transport Task Force and of the Transport Research Programme. Before entering the Commission, Mr Vandenberghe worked as a manager at Ernst & Young Association Management, where he set up, managed and represented international trade associations. He holds a degree in French and Italian literature from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL), a degree in Public and International Affairs from the University Catholique de Louvain-la-Neuve (UCL), and a MA in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.
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Achieving Depth: Subsea Telecommunications Cables as Critical Infrastructure
Government attention to the security and resilience of subsea telecommunications cables has intensified in recent years. While largely owned and operated by private companies, a growing number of states now qualify or designate the systems as critical, if not strategic infrastructure, the security and resilience of which are vital to economic and societal well-being, national security and much else. In her address to the IIEA, Dr Camino Kavanagh discusses government efforts to protect the infrastructure in the current geopolitical context, examining how such efforts - and the different challenges that emerge - contribute to the global telecommunications systems’ core resilience capacities.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Camino Kavanagh is a Senior Fellow with the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) and a Visiting Senior Fellow with the Dept. of War Studies, King’s College London. Her current research focuses on international security, conflict and technology as well as emerging issues relevant to critical subsea infrastructure. Camino is also Senior Digital Advisor to the UN Department of Political Affairs’ Policy and Mediation Division. She served as advisor/rapporteur to the 2019-2021 and 2016-2017 UN negotiating processes on cyber/ICT and international security (UNGGE and UNOEWG). Over the past decade she has also advised and consulted with the UN Secretary-General’s office, the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the European Commission, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Organization of American States, as well as with government departments and agencies on issues pertaining to national/international security, conflict and diplomacy. Prior to this, Camino spent over a decade working in conflict and post-conflict contexts, including with UN peacekeeping operations and political missions.
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IIEA Insights with Dan O'Brien and Brad Setser - 17th of April 2025
The Global Impact of US Economic Policies
The international economic policies of the United States have shifted dramatically since the inauguration of Donald Trump as president at the end of January. Thus far, the most impactful have been a series of historically large tariff announcements on most countries in the world. Former US Treasury Economist, Brad Setser examines these policy changes and their implications for the US economy, global trade and investment flows, financial markets, and the role of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. He also discusses his work on US corporate tax strategies.
Brad Setser is the Whitney Shepardson Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Mr Setser served as a Senior Advisor to the United States Trade Representative from 2021 to 2022, where he worked on the resolution of a number of trade disputes. He had previously served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Economic Analysis in the U.S. Treasury from 2011 to 2015, and as a Director for International Economics on the staff of the National Economic Council and the National Security Council. He has published widely, including co-authoring, with Nouriel Roubini, Bailouts and Bail-ins: Responding to Financial Crises in Emerging Economies, and has contributed to publications such as Foreign Affairs, Finance and Development and Global Governance. He regularly blogs at Follow the Money.
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Engagement and Partnership with Africa’s Great Lakes Region: A Strategic Priority for the EU?
Enhancing peace and security cooperation is a key pillar of the EU-Africa partnership, which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2025. In the second address of the 2025 Development Matters lecture series, which is kindly supported by Irish Aid, Mr Johan Borgstam, EU Special Representative for the Great Lakes Region, presents his assessment of the situation in the region based on his recent visits and focus on the EU's engagement in support of peace, stability, and security in countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Mr Borgstam is a Swedish diplomat with extensive national and EU experience, which includes serving as the Head of the EU Delegation to Ethiopia and ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, and Greece. He was appointed the EUSR for the Great Lakes Region on 1 September 2024. In this role, he supports the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs in implementing the EU’s foreign policy objectives in the Great Lakes Region. His mission is to contribute to building a stronger, more comprehensive, and more strategic partnership with the countries in the region, maintaining close contact with key regional organisations and fora, such as the African Union and the East African Community, as well as the United Nations, the International Financial Institutions, and non-state actors when relevant.
It is the second lecture of the 2025 Development Matters series, which is kindly sponsored by Irish Aid.
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Can Europe act Strategically to a Changed Geopolitical Reality?
Europe finds itself in a new geopolitical reality. While Russia's continues its war of aggression against Ukraine and threatens to advance on Europe's Eastern Flank, the transatlantic relationship is undergoing a period of change. Since the United States signalled that Europe will need to do more for its own defence, European capitals have been attempting to recalibrate to a new reality where there is less certainty of US commitment to the security of Europe. In her remarks to the IIEA, Judy Dempsey discusses the challenges which Europe faces in this new geopolitical moment, and whether we will be able to adapt to meet this new reality.
About the speaker:
Judy Dempsey is a nonresident senior fellow at Carnegie Europe. She was the editor in chief of the Strategic Europe blog from 2012 to 2024. Dempsey is also the author of the book The Merkel Phenomenon. She worked for the International Herald Tribune from 2004 to 2011 as its Germany and East European Correspondent and from 2011 to September 2013 as columnist. Dempsey was the diplomatic correspondent for the Financial Times in Brussels from 2001 onward, covering NATO and European Union enlargement. Between 1990 and 2001, she served as Jerusalem bureau chief, Berlin correspondent, and Eastern European correspondent in London (1990–1992) for the Financial Times. During the 1980s, Dempsey reported on Central and Eastern Europe for the Financial Times, the Irish Times, and the Economist.
Italia