Word of the Secretary General

Newsletter

“If you please − draw me a sheep!”

“If you please − draw me a sheep!”

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Says the little prince in 2nd chapter of the wonderful book by Saint Exupery. If you remember well this story and if you read it again, long time after we probably all had do read it in school you might be surprised how much it can teach us: The aviator that tries to draw a sheep and fails all the time in the eyes of the (young) Little Prince. The Little Prince, Greta, our children and grandchildren cannot be satisfied with the “Energy policy-sheep” that current politicians draw, mainly influenced by powerful lobby groups that like to maintain the status quo.

“If you please − draw me a sheep!”

Alone? Together!

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Some of you might know this fantastic Jazz song from 1932 performed by late Chet Baker:
Alone together, beyond the crowd
Above the world, we’re not too proud
To cling together, we’re strong
As long as we’re together

Although clear for a long time almost no European Government takes the appropriate action to tackle the challenges of our changing world. It does not help to meet and greet Greta and the world becomes a better place.
We need action to fight climate crisis but as well understand the effects on public health: An alarming report came from the European Environment Agency “Air pollution remains Europe’s top environmental threat to health, with more than 400 000 premature deaths driven by air pollution every year in the EU. Noise pollution comes second, contributing to 12 000 premature deaths.“ ‘The Green Deal on a sustainable future, strong action is needed… towards a more inclusive and sustainable Europe,’ said Hans Bruyninckx, EEA Executive Director.

“If you please − draw me a sheep!”

It’s the Economy AND the Planet, stupid!

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Dear friends of European Solar Manufacturing!
In troubling times, with worries about the health and jobs for a lot of citizens we should do the maths. Back in 1992 the word of “It’s the Economy, stupid” became a key element of Bill Clinton’s campaign to win the American presidency. But there had been 2 more elements: “change against more of the same” and “don’t forget health care”. Health care and change need to be combined in our worries for our climate future, so René Cattin, friend of impressive Greta Thunberg, draw a cartoon crossing Economy and changing it against “planet”.
I guess we all agree that we need to make change, so that economy and the care for the planet need to go together. It’s upon us to harmonize both. Integrating externalities is the key, or like our slogan with Brussels based think-tank “Green Budget Europe” was: “Tax bads not goods”. Last year higher CO2 prices heavily pushed Coal electricity out of the European Grid. Even in the heartlands of Coal, Germany and Poland, it becomes more expensive to burn coal for electricity.
At ESMC we are very happy about the recent announcements to bring back large-scale European PV production to Europe. We congratulate Voltec-Solar, Systovi and Meyer Burger for their courage to move on towards the right direction. We need more of this entrepreneur-spirit!
This follows the joint initiative “Solar Manufacturing Accelerator” by SolarPower Europe, VDMA, ETIP-PV, IPVF and ESMC to push for more European production. More to come soon.
Please join us in September for our 7 Wednesday sessions of the Solar Industry Forum, hosted jointly by SOLARUNITED, Becquerel Institute, ETIP-PV, ETA-Florence Renewable Energies and ESMC.