Driving the green transition through transregional connectivity and collaboration
10 June 2024 – Berlin, Germany
The State of the Megaregion Day is a political cornerstone event aimed at highlighting the effective mechanisms driving an efficient energy transition and building a competitive green economy throughout the STRING megaregion – the connected cross-border region stretching from Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein in the south, across Denmark and western Sweden, to Oslo in the north.
In a strategic partnership, the OECD has made 23 recommendations in 2021 to how STRING can enhance its global position. The State of the Megaregion Day will deliver a milestone status on the megaregion’s progress, as well as an invitation to explore the specific opportunities for Germany of being connected to this global green powerhouse.
Programme
14:30 - 15:00 Arrival, registration & coffee
15:00 – 15:05 Welcome by hosts
The Danish Ambassador to Germany Susanne Hyldelund welcomes the participants to the Nordic Embassies in Berlin.
Session I: THE POWER OF MEGAREGIONS
15:05 - 15:15 STRING: A leading green megaregion in Northern Europe
How STRING gains its green transition power by working at the regional level cross-border and cross-sector, implementing policy innovation, sustainable infrastructure and net-zero technologies, building a stable and green economy.
Speaker: Eirik Lae Solberg, Mayor of Oslo
15:15 - 15:40 OECD: The power of megaregions to achieve sustainable development
In an introductory keynote to the concept of megaregions, the OECD highlights their benefits and growing potential, honing in on the economic agglomeration effects to drive environmental sustainability and green growth.
The OECD further presents the results of a new report highlighting the recent development of the STRING Megaregion, benchmarking STRING’s progress and opportunities against other first-mover regions across the globe.
Keynote:
Ulrik Vestergaard Knudsen, Deputy Secretary-General of the OECD (TBC)
Speaker:
Oscar Huerta Melchor, Policy Analyst on Urban Development and Governance, OECD Regional Development Policy Division
15:40 - 16:00 Leveraging cross-border infrastructure in the net-zero transition; The Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link
Panel discussion on the role of transport infrastructure and regional political collaboration in achieving cross-border cohesion to stimulate economic growth and the energy transition. What is needed from implementing regions and cities and national governments respectively to succeed?
Topics include:
Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link, Øresund Bridge, HH Tunnel, a.o.
Panelists:
Anjes Tjarks, Senator for Transport and Mobility Transition, Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (TBC)
Linda Snecker, Member of Swedish Riksdagen, Transportcommittee
Eirik Lae Solberg, Mayor of Oslo
Sophie Hæstorp Andersen, Mayor, City of Copenhagen (TBC)
Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, European Union – TBD
16:00 - 16:10 Coffee break
Session II: THE CASE OF HYDROGEN
16:10 - 16:20 The perfect storm of innovation and natural resources
Keynote on the resources and characteristics that has given rise to an emerging green hydrogen hub in STRING.
Speaker: Fraunhofer Institute ISI – TBD
16:20 - 16:32 Deploying a green, resilient hydrogen infrastructure
1: Deploying hydrogen transport infrastructure – the case of GREATER4H
Interview with GP Joule
2: Hydrogen transmission infrastructure – the case of Danish Backbone West
Interview with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners
16:32 - 17:00 Striking the balance of market stimulation and economic stability
Discussing key mechanisms to solve the hydrogen sector’s chicken-and-egg dilemma; how can risk be distributed in cross-sectoral value chains; and what degree of flexibility is required in frameworks and tariffs to enable market development? The discussion will also perspectivise the cost of inaction; environmentally, economically, socially at this crucial moment for hydrogen.
Panelists:
David Dupont-Mouritzen, Director, PtX Advocacy & Regulatory Affairs, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners
Henning Uck, Manager Strategic Projects, GP Joule
Thyssenkrupp – TBD
Energinet – TBD
17:00 - 17:20 Interactive break
Session III: NORTHERN CROSS-BORDER OPPORTUNITIES
17:20 - 17:30 A window of green opportunity in the north
How can Germany reap the benefit of its well-established connection to the megaregion’s green engine, and how it can be expanded to support Germany’s energy security and quest to green its industries and transport systems?
Speaker: TBD
17:30 - 18:10 A Window of Green Opportunity: Strong collaboration across Germany's northern border
The keynotes and discussions have illustrated how Germany’s northern cohesion with STRING presents a unique opportunity for Germany to boost economic growth and achieve green energy security. In this panel discussion, we will address how Nordic/German business partnerships can be leveraged to spark the green economy in the region and how the current political collaboration between Germany and the Nordics can be furthered to allow for this to happen.
Speakers:
Wolfgang Schmidt, Head of the German Federal Chancellery and Federal Minister for Special Tasks (TBC)
Katrin Zschau, MdB, Chair of the Committee for Climate Protection and Energy, German Bundestag (TBC)
Jørgen Mads Clausen, CEO, Danfoss, (TBC)
Northvolt – TBD
Thomas Becker, Managing Director, STRING
18:10 - 18:20 Closing session
Chair of STRING and vice-mayor of the city of Gothenburg, Karin Pleijel, will give the closing remarks to the event.
18:20 - 19:00 Networking mingle
