Right to Energy Forum 2023

EAPN was honoured to participate in the Right to Energy Forum 2023, and raise the voice of people experiencing energy poverty in the ongoing energy and cost of living crisis.

The Forum took place 21 – 23 February 2023.

This year’s programme offered 3 days of discussions and interactive sessions with activists, politicians, environmental NGOs, trade unions, EU decision makers and solidarity collectives from across Europe. They discussed energy poverty and its place in the social justice and climate movement, as well as solutions to eradicate it.

EAPN Europe hosted the following sessions:

After the windfall tax: The next big ideas for a right to energy
Climate Justice is Social Justice, Social Justice is Climate Justice

EAPN Europe’s Policy and Advocacy Officer, Sabrina Iannazzone was also a panellist on the session titled Placing People and Planet before Profit. Further details can be found below.

After the Windfall Tax: The next big ideas for a right to energy

Date: 22 February 2023

With many Europeans already strained with the cost of living crisis, energy poverty is making headlines due to skyrocketing prices, forcing millions to make an unconscionable choice between eating and heating. This is a watershed moment for Europe. We must come together to ensure 2023 becomes a landmark year for tackling energy poverty, as well as implementing long-term solutions to shield the most vulnerable and prevent future energy crises.

This session was an interactive workshop to explore what policy, measures and actions could be next in the fight to secure the right to energy for all.

Panellists

Below you will find further information on our expert panellists.

Tove Maria Ryding

Tove leads the tax justice team in the European Network on Debt and Development (EURODAD) and is a member of the Coordinating Committee of the Global Alliance for Tax Justice.

Adela Tesarova

Head of Unit for Consumers, Local Initiatives, Just Transition in DG ENER. She is an economist, with experience in the European Commission working on energy, climate and environment policies as well as EU economic governance and taxation.

Caroline Van der Hoeven

Since 2018, Caroline has been the coordinator of the Belgian Anti-Poverty Network (BAPN). She
oversees the network’s daily management, strategy, and policy programmes. She is also one of the vice presidents of the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN).

Josu Mozos

As Climate Action Senior Manager for Europe, Josu leads C40’s Global Green New Deal pilot in Europe, working with Barcelona, London, Milan, Paris and Warsaw on addressing the current energy crisis and tackling energy poverty.

Pascoe Sabido

Pascoe Sabido is a researcher and campaigner at Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), focusing on lobbying by the oil and gas industry as well as other climate and energy issues.

Watch some key messages from some of the panellists

Watch the Session

Placing People and Planet before Private Profit

Date: 22 February 2023

Electricity plays a fundamental role in poverty reduction and is an enabling condition to access other essential services. EAPN Europe’s Policy and Advocacy Officer, Sabrina Iannazzone spoke at the panel organised by the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU).

You can watch the recorded session on YouTube.

Climate Justice is Social Justice, Social Justice is Climate Justice

Date: 23 February 2023

Social justice should be at the core of the energy and climate transitions. Everyone has a right to clean, affordable energy and decent housing. Achieving a socially inclusive decarbonisation and ensuring affordable adequate housing are a collective responsibility. The Right to Energy movement is a people-powered movement that successfully challenges energy poverty in Europe since its formation in 2017.

This was a panel discussion examining the structural solutions needed to eradicate energy poverty.

Panelists

The panel included insights from panelists with professional and academic expertise in climate and social issues. You can find out more about their interesting backgrounds below.

Marie Toussaint

Marie is a French MEP, environmental activist, jurist in international environmental law, co-founder of the association Notre affaire à tous and at the origin of the l’Affaire du siècle campaign. She was elected MEP on the Greens/EFA group in May 2019 .

Archana Ramanujam

Archana is a PhD student researcher at Brown University, and has a background in the climate and anti-racism movements particularly in the Netherlands. She works on understanding how we might organise our political economy differently to avoid climate catastrophe, towards a just and democratic future.

Mònica Guiteras Blaya

Monica is a member of Engineering without Borders (ESF), the Alliance against Energy Poverty (APE) and www.empowermed.eu project. She has participated in several actions and programs of advocacy and awareness-raising regarding the energy model and its socio environmental impacts at Catalan and EU level.

Klelia Guerrero García

Klelia is a tax Justice Specialist at the Latin American Network for Social and Economic Justice (Latindadd). She is Ecuadorian and has a Master in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her experience involves positions in the public service, the academy, and with NGOs, all of them focused on revising the paradigms that guide social and productive interactions and mobilising to break them when necessary.

Magda-Sarah Boulabiza

Magda is a policy and advocacy advisor at the European Network Against Racism where she manages issues related to employment, climate and economic justice. She is a passionate anti-racism facilitator. She also holds experience as a legal advisor in migration.

Mari Carmen Gómez

Mari is affected by energy poverty and an activist of the Alliance against Energy Poverty (APE) since 2016, the moment when transnational company Naturgy disconnected her energy supply. Since then she has been an active member of APE and part of the mutual support and empowerment network around the defense of basic supplies such as water and energy as human rights.