Jonathan Knott

Former British ambassador to Hungary, Budapest

Part of UK in Hungary

27th October 2014 Budapest, Hungary

Canalettos and Brueghels, EU climate and energy policy and fantastic people  

Guest blog by Kriszti Kocsis, Senior Policy Officer (Energy, Climate and Environment) at the British Embassy. 

I spent two days in the beautiful Prague Castle on 22-23 October. As part of the GREAT Energy Summit in Prague, among Brueghel and Canaletto paintings in the lovely Lobkowitz Palace, energy industry leaders from the UK and Central Europe met to discuss current issues and explore business opportunities.

You can see the lovely surroundings on this photo with Baroness Verma, Parliamentary Undersecretary of the British Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC)  giving her opening speech.

EnergySummitBaronessVerma

The Central European UK Trade and Investment team brought together nearly 100 senior delegates. I took the photo of the impressive Hungarian delegation with my colleague, Zsuzsa.

HunDelegation

Not only does she know everybody who counts in energy, but she has managed to get them come all the way to Prague to the GREAT Energy Summit, the showcase of UK energy sector in Central Europe. Speaking to these experts is an invaluable source of industry knowledge so a bit of extra time with them was a fantastic learning opportunity for me. These snippets of insight into the development of these special markets and their sub-sectors are of enormous help for making sense of the policy environment and how it affects the sector.

The conference took place just a day before the October European Council. Since the Council agenda was dominated by the EU climate and energy policy framework, the subject was brought up in a number of discussions at the conference too. The overarching theme featuring in these discussions was the investment environment. This helped widen the narrative on the EU 2030 framework from merely a climate change one to that of jobs, growth and competitiveness. Since then, EU heads of governments have agreed a historic deal on the EU climate and energy package. This long term signal for investment is key for addressing the problem of underinvestment and the EU’s increasing energy import. Furthermore, if we need to spend hundreds of billions each year to replace and modernise energy infrastructure, whether we decarbonise or not, it would be insane not to do it the low carbon way. British Prime Minister said in the press conference following the council meeting:

“I want to make sure Europe is playing its part in delivering a global deal that can prevent dangerous climate change.  I think it was very important that Europe stepped up to the plate, and we have done that, with committing ourselves to more than 40% reductions of greenhouse gases by 2030.  But I also think it’s important we try and do this at the least cost: at the least cost to our industries, at the least cost to our consumers. And I believe that is what we have achieved with the deal that was signed yesterday.”

The International Energy Agency (IEA), The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the New Climate Economy Report and many other analyses have found that the loss of EU competitiveness is not driven by climate policies, but a lot of other factors such as red tape or  the lack of innovation. With the October Council having agreed the high level framework, industry is now waiting for the details to be worked out. And we want this to happen quickly. The delay in investment would cost additional 300 billion Euros every year.

BritembPrague
The GREAT Energy Summit at the Lobkowitz Palace in Prague. Photo ©British Embassy Prague

I will keep very good memories of this GREAT event in Prague. As a honorary member of the UKTI organising team, my job was to secure the speakers from the UK line ministry, DECC. I have been working with commercial colleagues in the region for some time as part of the integrated Energy Team of the Central European Network, but this was the first time we have collaborated so closely on a regional commercial project. I have had the chance to gain unique insight into their activities and made me appreciate what they do even better. I have experienced the one team feeling and that we can always rely on each other. I cannot wait to see them again in Budapest at our annual meeting in November!

Take a look at the photos taken during the summit by British Embassy Prague on Facebook
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the British government.

About Jonathan Knott

Jonathan Knott was appointed Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Hungary in March 2011 and arrived in Budapest in February 2012 to take up his post. He left this post on April…

Jonathan Knott was appointed Her Majesty’s Ambassador to
Hungary in March 2011 and arrived in Budapest in February 2012 to take
up his post. He left this post on April 2015.
He has previously held a variety of diplomatic posts at home and
abroad, several with a particular focus on commercial and corporate
finance issues. Jonathan has served in a number of positions in the
British Diplomatic Service since joining in 1988:
Before his appointment was Deputy Head of Mission and Director for Trade and Investment in South Korea from 2008 to 2011.Between 2005 and 2008 he held the post of Deputy Finance Director in the FCO.From 2000 to 2005 he served as First Secretary (Trade, Corporate Affairs and Finance Negotiator) in UKDel OECD Paris.From 1996 to 2000 he was First Secretary (Head of Political/Economic/Aid Section) in Mexico.From 1995 to 1996 he worked in the FCO as Deputy European Correspondent at the EU Directorate.Between 1991 and 1995 he served as Third later Second Secretary (Political / Press and Public Affairs) in Havana.From 1990 to 1991 he was Desk Officer in the FCO’s First Gulf War Emergency Unit.Between 1988 and 1990 he worked as Desk Officer in the FCO in the Anti Drugs Cooperation Department.
Jonathan holds an MA in law from Oxford University, and he is a
member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. He speaks
English, French, Spanish and Hungarian. He is married to Angela Susan
Knott and has one daughter and two sons.

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