Taxation, Innovation and Communication: Enhancing the prospects for green fiscal reform

Transcription

1 European expert platform on environmental taxation and green fiscal reform Taxation, Innovation and Communication: Enhancing the prospects for green fiscal reform Green Budget Europe Annual Conference 2011 organised in association with The Danish Ecological Council With the support of European Environment Agency (EEA) European Environmental Bureau (EEB) Rockwool Concito September 2011 European Environment Agency Kongens Nytorv Copenhagen GREEN BUDGET GERMANY (GBG) FORUM ÖKOLOGISCH-SOZIALE MARKTWIRTSCHAFT e.v. Schwedenstraße 15a D Berlin Fon/Fax /-59 foes@foes.de GLS Gemeinschaftsbank eg Konto BLZ IBAN DE Gemeinnützig zur Förderung wissenschaftlicher Zwecke laut Finanzamt München für Körperschaften

2 Green Budget Europe Page 2 Thursday 15/09/2011 The advantages of green taxation, including special sessions on the Energy Tax Directive : Keynote speakers taxation as a driver for the green economy (plenary) Chair: Christian Ege, Director, Danish Ecological Council Welcome Jacqueline Cottrell, Manager, Green Budget Europe Christian Ege, Director, Danish Ecological Council Keynote addresses: Taxation, innovation and communication ways forward for Environmental Taxation in Europe Professor Jacqueline McGlade, Executive Director, European Environment Agency How can we promote green budgeting in the midst of a European crisis? Dr. Anselm Görres, President, Green Budget Europe Green tax reform in Denmark Martin Lidegaard, Chairman of the Board, Concito : Coffee break : The Energy Tax Directive: The latest Commission proposal and prospects for implementation? Chair: Aldo Ravazzi, Italian Ministry of Environment, Land & Sea, and Vice President, Green Budget Europe The Commission proposal for a revised Energy Tax Directive Dr. Rolf Diemer, Head of Unit, DG Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission Green Budget Europe s analysis of the proposed revisions to the Energy Tax Directive Kai Schlegelmilch, Green Budget Europe Brief statements from speakers on their approaches to and opinions on the Energy Tax Directive: Hans Larsen, Deputy Manager, Representative from the Danish Ministry of Tax Ilja Lorenzo Volpi, Policy Adviser, Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) AISBL

3 Green Budget Europe Page Lunch Parallel sessions 14:00 15:30 1) Exploring the interrelationship between innovation and taxation (room a) Chair: Riemara Schuivens, policy and legal adviser, Ministry of Finance, Netherlands Taxation, Innovation and the Environment: Lessons from OECD Experience Anthony Cox, Head of the Environment and Economy Integration Division, OECD Innovation of energy technologies the role of taxes Helge Sigurd Naess-Schmidt, Director, Copenhagen Economics Environmental tax and fiscal reform in Japan and South Korea Soocheol Lee, Professor at Meijo University Japan (Visiting Academic, Energy Institute, University College London) 2) The Energy Tax Directive stationary sources of emissions (room b) Chair: Jørgen Henningsen, formerly Principal Advisor of DG Energy and Transport Environmental taxes in the context of fiscal consolidation John Ward, Principal, VIVID Economics Ltd. How and why energy taxes can be good for business Anders Stouge, Deputy Director General, Danish Energy Association Households and energy taxation Søren Dyck-Madsen, Climate and Energy Policy Officer, Danish Ecological Council : Coffee break

4 Green Budget Europe Page 4 Parallel sessions 16: ) Evidence of green taxation boosting green innovation successes in Denmark (room a) Chair: David Gee, Senior Adviser, Science, Policy, Emerging Issues, Integrated Environmental Assessment, European Environment Agency (EEA) The impact of the Danish carbon taxation on innovation at Danfoss Thomas Keller, Senior Director, Danfoss Innovative responses to green taxes on waste in Denmark Professor Dr. Mikael Skou Andersen, European Environment Agency (EEA) Taxation and innovation in Denmark Jens Holger Helbo Hansen, Danish Tax Agency 2) The Energy Tax Directive and the transport sector (room b) Chair: Per Homan Jespersen, Lecturer, Institute for Environment, Social and Spatial Change at Roskilde University ENSPAC Could EU prevent transport fuel tax competition between member states by copying the USA/Canada IFTA model? Magnus Nilsson, Senior Campaigner, Transport & Environment The position of CER the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies on the Energy Tax Directive Ilja Lorenzo Volpi, Policy Adviser, Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) AISBL Fuel subsidies are driving community fisheries to extinction Dr. Edward Fahy, Coordinator, Smart Taxes Network GBE information session followed by drinks reception Conference dinner All the evening s events are to be held in the EEA premises, Kongens Nytorv 6, 1050 Copenhagen

5 Green Budget Europe Page 5 Friday 16/09/2011 Taxation, innovation and communication highlighting the possibilities for change Keynote speakers Taxation, innovation and communication (plenary) Chair: Eero Yrjö-Koskinen, Executive Director, Finnish Association for Nature Conservation The benefits of stricter carbon cuts for innovation and green investments Connie Hedegaard, Climate Action Commissioner, European Commission The 'Sustainable Prosperity' project and its lessons for communicating environmental policies Stewart Elgie, Professor of Law and Economics at the University of Ottawa, Canada Policies to enhance innovation and green growth Jens Lundsgaard, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs Presentation: GBE s Green Fiscal Reformer of the Year Award to Jens Lundsgaard Coffee break Parallel sessions ) Environmental taxation and innovation cases from around Europe (room a) Chair: Thomas Kähler, Managing Director Rockwool Scandinavia Greening industries without loss of competitiveness Danish experiences and European options Anders Chris Hansen, Lecturer at Institute for Environment, Social and Spatial Change at Roskilde University ENSPAC, Denmark The Community Innovation Survey in France identifying sources of innovation Maryvonne Phantarangsi, Chargée de mission in environmental policy and business/ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Sea, France The debate in Switzerland to replace (all of) VAT with environmental taxation Ion Karagounis, Managing Director, Swiss Foundation for Environmental Management,Pusch, Switzerland

6 Green Budget Europe Page 6 2) The potential impacts of taxes on innovation in the transport sector (room b) Chair: Per Homann Jespersen, Lecturer, Institute for Environment, Social and Spatial Change at Roskilde University ENSPAC Results of traffic-related taxes in Denmark Christian Ege, Director, Danish Ecological Council, Denmark Tax Incentives in Taxation on Vehicles in the Czech Republic a comparison of behaviour before and after environmental tax reform in the sector in 2009 Karel Korba and Zdenka Teserova, Head of Tax, Ministry of Finance, Czech Republic Possibilities and prospects for EFR in the transport sector in Portugal Nuno Domingues, EFR Coordinator, GEOTA, Portugal LUNCH : Environmental Fiscal Reform: Communicating the benefits (plenary) Chairs: Jacqueline Cottrell, Manager, Green Budget Europe; Anne-Mette Wehmüller, Policy Officer, Danish Ecological Council This innovative session will have 4 working groups discussing the communication of EFR After 45 minutes discussion, the groups will all come back together for the last 45 minutes to brainstorm ideas Proposed group leaders, presenting their ideas about communication in the working groups: - Professor Dr. Mikael Skou Andersen, EEA, Denmark - Wayne Gumley, Senior Lecturer in Taxation Law, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia - András Lukács, President, Clean Air Action Group, Hungary - Susanne Tolstrup, Director of Communications & Public Affairs, Better Place, Denmark 15:30 16:00: Coffee break 16:00 18:00 Panel Discussion the potential for EFR, particularly the Energy Tax Directive, to green the EU economy (including closing remarks by hosts GBE and DEC) Chair: Kai Schlegelmilch, Vice President, Green Budget Europe Dr. Anselm Görres, President, Green Budget Europe Pieter de Pous, Policy Director, European Environmental Bureau (EEB) Michael Jacobs, Visiting Professor, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics, and former Special Adviser in the UK Treasury Dr. Manfred Rosenstock, Deputy Head of Unit, Strategy, Environment DG

7 Green Budget Europe Page 7 Speakers and Chairs Anthony Cox Head, Environment and Economy Integration Division Environment Directorate, OECD Dr. Rolf Diemer is Head of Unit for "Environment and other indirect taxes" in the EU Commission s Directorate General for the Taxation and Customs Union. In this function Mr. Diemer notably oversees the revision of the EU s energy tax directive. He is also responsible for environmental tax issues in general as well as other indirect taxes like excise duties. Before he headed the European Commission's department for 'value added tax and other turnover taxes'. Preceding responsibilities as policy officer included the secretariat of the high-level Taxation Policy Group and work on the longer-term options for company taxation in the EU. Rolf Diemer holds a Ph.D. degree (Dr. rer. pol.) and has completed his studies in business administration at the University of Cologne and at Bocconi University, Milan, with specialisation in auditing, accounting, tax law. Further to his native German, he is fluent in English, French and Italian. Nuno Domingues, GEOTA, EFR Coordinator, Portugal. Nuno Alexandre Soares Domingues, holds a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering in the ISEL and the pre-bologna Masters in Electrical and Computer Engineering at IST with a dissertation on Energy Markets (engineering + economics). He is currently a finalist for the Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering at FCT-UNL with a thesis on decision-making in energy systems with environmental constraints. He studied a semester Electrical Engineering at the University of Darmstadt, Germany, and studied one year in school Electrical Engineering - Renewable Energy and Environment at the University of Gotland, Sweden. Since September 2008, is an assistant in the Department of Electrical Engineering in ISEL. Volunteer in GEOTA (coordinator of the group Environmental Tax Reform and collaborator in the group of sustainable consumption and in the group spatial planning).

8 Green Budget Europe Page 8 Søren Dyck-Madsen,The Danish Ecological Council. Søren Dyck- Madsen is the Energy and Climate expert in the Danish Ecological Council. Søren has been working with the EEB in the Environmental Fiscal Reform groups for more than ten years. He participates in the Global climate negotiations with a special focus on how to include shipping in a market based system and the failures of the flexible mechanisms. He also works on the two directives to be negotiated during the Danish EU-Presidency, the Energy Tax Directive and the Energy Efficiency Directive. He s a member of the Danish Energy Saving council and the Danish working group on energy certificates for buildings. He is the author of the publication about Climate Friendly Energy Solutions where analysis and advices for energy customers are provided for various ways to do something extra for the climate and more renewable with a special focus on how to operate in a world with several market based systems. Stewart Elgie Professor of Law and Economics at the University of Ottawa, Canada Dr. Edward Fahy took his primary degree in natural sciences at Trinity College, Dublin and his PhD at the National University of Ireland, Galway. He has worked in several government agencies and the civil service in the Republic of Ireland on planning, conservation and aquatic biology (freshwater and marine) issues. He has published two books and more than a hundred scientific papers and articles on fisheries management. In the role of consultant, he recently completed a report A tax mechanism to encourage compliance with marine fisheries management regulations for the Smart Taxes organisation in Dublin on which his presentation in September will be based. Dr. Anselm Görres was born in 1952, studied economics in Heidelberg, Geneva, Stuttgart, and Munich and researched at the IMF in Washington. As a consultant with McKinsey&Co., he served clients like Allianz, Daimler-Benz, Deutsche Bahn, Krupp, Siemens inside and outside of Germany. Since 1996, he has been owner/manager of ZMM Zeitmanager München GmbH, a leading provider of interim services ( He is a founding member of GBG/FÖS, the parent organisation of GBE, and is President of Green Budget Europe. Wayne Gumley has worked as a lawyer in general practice and with the Australian Government Solicitor's Office before joining Monash University. He currently lectures in Environmental Law, Corporate Environmental Responsibility, Taxation Law and Insurance Law. Wayne s research interests include environmental tax reform, corporate environmental responsibility and education for sustainability. Wayne was editor of the environmental law journal National Environmental Law Review from

9 Green Budget Europe Page 9 Connie Hedegaard In 2010, Connie Hedegaard was made the first Climate Action Commissioner in the European Union. In August 2004 she was appointed as Danish Minister for the Environment. In 2007 she was in charge of setting up the Danish Ministry of Climate and Energy, where one of the main tasks was to prepare the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen in December In 1984, at the age of 23, she was elected to the Danish Parliament as a member for the Conservative People's Party, thereby becoming the youngest Danish MP ever at that time. Jens Holger Helbo Hansen Danish Tax Agency Michael Jacobs is Visiting Professor at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics. From 2007 to 2010 he was Special Adviser to the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown with responsibility for climate change and energy policy. From he was a member of the Council of Economic Advisers at the UK Treasury, where he oversaw environmental taxation and spending policy. His books include The Green Economy (Pluto Press 1991) and Paying for Progress: A New Politics of Tax for Public Spending (Fabian Society 2000). Ion Karagounis studied Geophysics from at the Swiss Institute of Technology Zurich ETH. In 1992 he completed his doctoral examination before he gained his Postcertificate study Executive MBA at the University of St. Gallen HSG. Mr Karagounis started his employment history as scientific employee at Laboratorio Studi Ambientali at the Dipartimento del Territorio in Lugano. From 1994 until 1999 he served as managing director at the Swiss Water and Air Protection VGL, Zurich. Since 2000 he is the managing director of the Swiss Foundation for Environmental Management Pusch, Zurich. Thomas Keller is Senior Director Group Tax in Danfoss A/S. Thomas Keller is globally responsible for all direct and indirect taxes in the Danfoss group. He holds a masters degree in Law from University of Copenhagen. Danfoss A/S is a leader in research, development and production of mechanical and electronic components and solutions. Its products help to heat and cool homes and offices, refrigerate food and control production lines. In short, Danfoss contributes to the conveniences of modern life as well as to a cleaner environment.

10 Green Budget Europe Page 10 Karel Korba is the head of Tax Strategy and Tax Analysis Unit of the Czech Ministry of Finance. He is responsible for strategizing tax policy and developing the tax system, and for long and short term tax revenue forecasting mainly for the State Budget preparation. He also runs the statistics of tax revenue for national purposes and statistics for international institutions (OECD, IMF, Eurostat, EU). Mr. Korba leads a group of macro- and microeconomic analyses of the revenues, coordinates the Environmental Tax Reform with the Ministry of Environment, and also the taxes related to the environment in green working groups. He represents the Ministry of Finance in presentation of the Czech Tax System and cooperates with the academic sector Hans Larsen is Deputy Manager, Representative from the Danish Ministry of Tax. Hans is Head of Division in The Ministry of Taxation. He has been overseeing the development of environmentally taxes in Denmark for decades. He has been involved in the negotiations about the present energy taxation directive and the revision of the directive. Soocheol Lee is Professor of Faculty of Economics Meijo University in Japan. He is now in the Energy Institute University College London as Visiting Academic(1st of March2011~31th of March 2012). He graduated from Seoul National university in Korea and got PhD at the Graduate School of Kyoto University in Japan. He had worked for Federation of Korean Industry as a team leader of Economic Research Department for about 10 years. His recent interest is environmental taxes and fiscal reform in Asian countries toward low-carbon economy. He has many books and papers on that field. Martin Lidegaard is chairman of the board in CONCITO, the green think tank of Denmark. CONCITO has just received a grant of 1 million USD to develop a new green tax reform for Denmark and has prioritised working for a new green growth regime in Denmark and the EU. Lidegaard holds a master in communication, has been a prominent member of the NGO community in Denmark until 2001, where he was elected as a MP and spokesperson on Energy, Transportation and Climate for the Social Liberal Party until 2007 and where he became one of the founding fathers of CONCITO.

11 Green Budget Europe Page 11 András Lukács is President of the Clean Air Action Group (CAAG), one of the best known non-governmental organisations in Hungary dealing with the protection of the environment, and an umbrella organisation of 132 environmental NGO s. Its main fields of activities are greening the state budget, sustainable transport, energy policy, urban development, use of chemicals. Its activities include public awareness raising, consulting, research, publishing and advocacy at the local and national levels. András Lukács, a geophysicist and economist, has headed CAAG ever since its foundation in He is author or co-author of more than 40 studies and several hundred articles on economic instruments for environmental protection, transport and environment, energy and environment, and urban sprawl. Jens Lundsgaard As Deputy Permanent Secretary for Business Affairs, since May 2011, Jens Lundsgaard is responsible for a broad range of policies to promote innovation and economic growth, also in relation to cleantech. Prior to that, at the OECD in Paris, he worked intensively with environmental tax reform, including the impact on innovation, as well as with macroeconomic and growth policies for the UK, Finland, Sweden and Denmark. He holds a degree in economics from the University of Aarhus and started his career at the Ministry of Finance in Denmark in 1998 before joining the OECD in Professor Dr. Jacqueline McGlade is Executive Director of the European Environment Agency, on secondment from University College London. Previous appointments have included Centre Director at UK Natural Environment Research Council, Professor at Warwick University, Institute Director FZ Jülich and Senior Scientist in the Canadian Federal Government. She has published more than 200 scientific papers, articles and books in marine science, ecosystem dynamics and governance of natural resources and been awarded a number of international prizes. She has worked extensively in Europe, North America, Africa and south-east Asia and appeared in many radio and television programmes, including her own series. Helge Sigurd Næss-Schmidt has a Master's degree in economics from the University of Copenhagen. He provides consulting services primarily to public clients with a focus on public finance aspects, impact assessments and policy evaluation. Prior to joining Copenhagen Economics he has worked for the Danish Ministry of Finance, the OECD, the EU Commission and for a Danish business organisation. He has taught economics both at the University of Copenhagen and the Copenhagen Business School.

12 Green Budget Europe Page 12 Magnus Nilsson. Born Background as environmental journalist, today consultant. For many years active in Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, both as volunteer and employee. Specialized on forestry, climate and transport issues, Campaigning on i.a. CO2 taxes and congestion charging.. Board member of T&E , today parttime working for the organization, lobbying on the revision of the Energy Tax Directive. Maryvonne Phantarangsi After two years in Scotland at the University of Aberdeen, having graduated in Economics, Maryvonne studied at the University of La Sorbonne in Ecological economics. Since 2009, she has worked at the French Ministry of Ecology as an economist. The main focus of her work is th evaluation of environmental policies on business. Her subjects of interest are green growth, taxation and innovation, environmental performance and harmful subsidies, amongst others. Pieter de Pous holds a master s degree in forestry sciences from the University of Wageningen in the Netherlands. Since 2005, he has worked in the policy unit of the European Environmental Bureau, coordinating the organization s advocacy work in the areas of biodiversity, water, soil, bio-energy and agriculture policies. During this time he closely followed the negotiations on the Renewable Energy Directive. In September 2010 he became the EEB s policy director. As such, he leads the EEB s policy work with a focus on natural resources. Between March 1 and May he was acting Secretary General of the EEB. Manfred Rosenstock joined the European Commission in 1993 and is currently Acting Head of Unit of the Chief Economist, Impact Assessment & Evaluation Unit of DG Environment. His main fields of work concern questions relating to the use of market-based instruments in Member States and Community environmental policy, as well as the environmental dimension of the Community Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. His previous assignments were in the State Aids Directorate of DG Competition and the Socio-Economic Analysis Unit of DG Regional Policy. Before joining the Commission, he studied economics at the J.W. Goethe-University of Frankfurt, Germany, and the London School of Economics, UK from Thereafter, he worked as a graduate research assistant at the Institute for Public Sector Economics of the University of Frankfurt until 1993, where he obtained a Ph.D. in Economics.

13 Green Budget Europe Page 13 Kai Schlegelmilch is an economist, who trained as Bank Clerk, and is Official in Charge at the Federal Environment Ministry of Germany. He has advised governments in China, Vietnam and Thailand regarding the introduction of environmental taxation on behalf of the GIZ (German International Cooperation). Formerly, he worked for the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, Energy and the European Environment Agency in Copenhagen. Founding member and since 2002 Vice-President of FÖS/GBG and Vice President of GBE. Prof. Dr. Mikael Skou Andersen is an environmental economist and policy analyst at the European Environment Agency. His most recent book publication is: Carbon-energy taxation: lessons from Europe (Oxford University Press, 2009; co-edited with Paul Ekins, UCL). His further publications also include The Innovation of EU Environmental Policy (Scandinavian University Press, 1997 with D. Liefferink) and the monograph Governance by Green Taxes (Manchester University Press, 1994). Anders Stouge is the Deputy Director General of the Danish Energy Association. The Danish Energy Association is a commercial and professional organisation for energy companies present in Denmark. It is managed and financed by its member companies, and takes care of their interests by working for better framework conditions to ensure development, growth and well-being in Denmark and in Europe. Anders Stouge holds a master of Economics from the University of Copenhagen, and he has lately completed the MIT Sloan Advanced Certificate for Executives in Management, Innovation, and Technology (ACE) at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Zdeňka Tesařová is a lawyer. Since July 2003 she has been working at Ministry of Finance in the Czech Republic, Department of Property tax and Road Tax. Since 2007 she has focused on Road Tax and she also takes care of relationship with EU institutions. Zdenka graduated in Law Faculty at the Charles University in Prague (2003), where she also passed the rigorous exam of Finance law (2005). Simultaneously she has continued her studies and has extended her experiences at the Brno International Business School, in the LLM programme on Czech Commercial Law in the EU. Zdeňka is married and has two children.

14 Green Budget Europe Page 14 Susanne Tolstrup, Director of Communications & Public Affairs, Better Place, Denmark Director of Communications Better Place Denmark A/S. Formerly Issues and Arctic Communications Managerini Shell International Haag, Head of Communication Powercom A/S and Telia. Ilja Lorenzo Volpi is an Italian national, is a Policy Adviser at CER, mainly responsible for environmental policies in relation to the rail sector. He has a five years experience in the Brussels public affairs arena, where he specialised in a wide range of areas such as transport and environment. Prior to joining CER, Ilja has built up his experience at Grayling Consultancy through several public affairs activities and has been actively involved in the management of pan-european lobbying campaigns at both EU and national level. John Ward is an expert in environmental economics, industrial organisation, finance and the application of economics to public policy issues. He has worked with a diverse portfolio of clients including numerous companies, government departments and regulatory bodies, as well as the European Commission, World Bank, IEA and UNEP. He is currently leading the Vivid Economics work for the European Climate Foundation on the opportunities for environmental fiscal reform in the context of the current fiscal challenges in Europe. He holds an M.Sc. in Economics (with distinction) from the University of London, and an M.A. in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford.

15 Green Budget Europe Page 15 Chairs Jacqueline Cottrell is a freelance environmental consultant and project manager of Green Budget Europe (GBE). Jacqueline has organised and contributed to numerous international conferences, seminars and workshops on the topic of Environmental Fiscal Reform. She has published widely in the field of environmental economics and sustainability, including most notably as co-editor of Critical Issues in Environmental Taxation, Vol VI (OUP 2009). She also works as a consultant for sustainable development policy for the implementing organisation GIZ (German International Cooperation). Christian Ege has been working in the environment field since 1980 in the Danish EPA with chemicals policy and with waste, recycling and cleaner technology in the Danish consultancy Center for Alternative Social Analyses (CASA), as the leader of their environment department and as the director of the Danish Ecological Council (DEC), since He has been dealing with green tax reform since 1999, and the DEC has issued several reports and articles on this topic. He has also been dealing with energy conservation, chemicals, traffic&env., and agriculture&env. David Gee Senior Adviser, Science, Policy, Emerging Issues, Integrated Environmental Assessment, European Environment Agency (EEA). David was educated in politics and economics and has worked for over 30 years at the science/policy interface of occupational and environmental risk assessment & reduction, with UK Trade Unions: with the Environmental Group, Friends of the Earth, where he was Director; and, since December 1995, with the European Environment Agency, an EU information providing body in Copenhagen. Per Homann Jespersen Per Homann Jespersen is assc. prof. of Transport Planning and Policy at the University of Roskilde. He has been working with i.a. public transport, road pricing, organization of public transport, transport infrastructure and regional development, transnational transport planning and greening of freight transport. He is a wellknown commentator and often used expert in the Danish media.

16 Green Budget Europe Page 16 Thomas Kähler has since 2010 been managing director of Rockwool Scandinavia. The Rockwool group is the world s leading producer of stone wool insulation. The product contributes substantially to reducing the energy demand in buildings and insulation has been identified as one of the most important measures to reduce carbon emission by McKinsey. Rockwool Scandinavia promotes energy efficiency towards professionals as well as private consumers, facing however a lack of economic incentives for energy savings and hence a lack of interest. Aldo Ravazzi is a Vice-President of Green Budget Europe.He works for the Italian Ministry of Environment, Land & Sea (DG Sustainable Development, Energy & Climate Change) as a coordinator of the Italian Environmental Authority for EU Structural Funds. He is co-chair of the OECD Committee for Biodiversity, Water & Ecosystems, he was co-chair of the OECD Environment & Taxation Experts Group and chair of the OECD Committee for National Environmental Policies in Since 2001 he has also been Vice-Chair of the OECD Committee for Economic-Environmental Country Reviews. He has contributed to the preparation of the G8-3R Kobe Action Plan, the OECD Recommendations on Resource Productivity and Material Flows, and the OECD Green Growth Strategy. Riemara M. Schuivens, policy and legal adviser, Ministry of Finance, the Netherlands. Riemara holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree from Leiden University, the Netherlands, and is specialised in Dutch tax law. She is a policy and legal advisor at the Customs & Consumer Taxes Directorate and is responsible for the energy tax and coal tax since 2006 and the tax on land filled waste since In 2010, she was one of the keynote speakers at the 11th Global Conference on Environmental Taxation in Bangkok, Thailand. Anne-Mette Wehmüller Policy officer. Anne-Mette has been working in the environmental field since 2008 at The Danish Ecological Council. She has a background from The Danish Ministry of Food. She holds a master in European Studies from the University of Aarhus as well as a certified course in project planning. She is the author of a survey on proposals for a green tax reform in Denmark, a publication on green taxes, green incentives and economic growth for students. During the last two years she has also been occupied with projects on how you promote electric vehicles/car sharing systems and bicycling in Denmark. Since 2005 Anne-Mette has been elected as a member of the City Council of Frederiksberg. Here she is a member of the environmental committee.

17 Green Budget Europe Page 17 Eero Yrjö-Koskinen, 48, is the Executive Director of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, the biggest environmental NGO in Finland. Before taking his current position in 2002, he worked for seven years at the European Parliament and four years at the UN. He holds a Master s degree from political science, and is a member of a city council Finland.

18 Green Budget Europe Page 18 THE ORGANISERS Green Budget Europe (GBE) is a European expert platform to promote Market Based Instruments for the environment. GBE brings together representatives of business, international organisations, ministries, NGOs, political decision-makers, the research community and civil society to protect climate and environment. Our goal is to promote Environmental Fiscal Reform to address climate change and the degradation of the natural environment, including green taxation, emission trading, phase-out of environmentally harmful subsidies and greening local, national and EU budgets and spending. GBE was founded in Brussels in September 2008 as a project of the NGO Forum Ökologisch- Soziale Marktwirtschaft / Green Budget Germany in response to the EU s growing influence on environmental and fiscal policy. New members are welcome! To become a member please complete the form overleaf and hand it to a member of staff or return to: Forum Ökologisch-Soziale Marktwirtschaft e.v. (FÖS), Schwedenstraße 15a, D Berlin. Alternatively, you can become a member online at There will be a short information event about Green Budget Europe before the drinks reception at on Thursday 15 th September. The Danish Ecological Council (DEC) is an environmental NGO founded in 1991 to promote sustainable development. The DEC both conducts scientific analyses of environment policy and sets out to inform and communicate these findings to both politicians and the general public and thus contribute substantially to policy debate. We would also like to extend our sincere thanks to all our sponsors and partners: European Environment Agency (EEA) European Environmental Bureau (EEB) Rockwool International Concito

19 Green Budget Europe Page 19 MEMBERSHIP FORM I would like to become an active member ( 200 annual contribution; voting member). I would like to become a supporting member ( 60 annual contribution; non-voting member). My company would like to become an active member (at least 1000 annual contribution, voting member). My company would like to become a supporting member (at least 500 annual contribution, non-voting member). I would like to become a supporting member at the reduced student fee ( 30 annual contribution; non-voting member). I would like to make an annual donation to GBG of... and receive information on GBG projects. I would like to make a one-off donation to GBG of... and receive information on GBG projects. I would like to receive the newsletter Green Budget News free of charge and without obligation. First name, title Profession Business data Street / P.O. Box Private/ NGO data Street / P.O. Box Postcode, Town Postcode, Town Institution / Company Organisation / Institution Function / Position Function / Position Fon / Fax Fon / Fax / Web / Web Place, Date, Signature

20 Green Budget Europe Page 20 Contact details: Green Budget Europe (GBE) Jacqueline Cottrell, GBE Manager Jan Eichhof, GBE Assistant Forum Ökologisch-Soziale Marktwirtschaft e.v. (FÖS) Schwedenstraße 15a Berlin Germany Phone: Fax: Danish Ecological Council (DEC) Anne-Mette Wehmüller, Policy Officer Blegdamsvej 4B 2200 Copenhagen Denmark Phone: Location of the conference: European Environment Agency Kongens Nytorv Copenhagen