New transatlantic business initiative Sun&Wind Belt launched successfully

Berlin/Washington, 08/18/2021 – Sun&Wind Belt is the new transatlantic business initiative on green transformation – driven forward by companies. Sun&Wind Belt brings together businesses on both sides of the Atlantic whose aim is to support politics with plans to ensure decarbonization. On August 16, Sun&Wind Belt hosted a virtual roundtable with a broadly positioned lineup of keynote speakers and participants. As a next step forward, Sun&Wind Belt will develop concrete proposals for a successful energy transition and actively approach policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic.

Successful kick-off with a virtual roundtable
Overall, more than 25 company representatives participated in the kick-off event of Sun&Wind Belt. Among the participants were some of Europe's and America's biggest windturbine and solar panel manufacturers as well as innovators in the field of battery technology, hydrogen and e-mobility and industrial energy users. Together with experienced speakers, the prerequisites for a successful energy transition in Germany and the U.S. were discussed from different angles.

Milan Nitzschke, RE expert and founder of the Sun&Wind Belt, gave a brief introduction on the initiative. He explained that "we already have the technologies to make energy transition a success – renewables are already cheaper than fossil technologies and ubiquitously disposable. Now we only need to deploy them". Peter Beyer (MP), Transatlantic Coordinator of the German Federal Government, gave insights into the perks of a closer transatlantic cooperation in climate issues: "If we work together and set standards, the U.S. and Germany will accelerate the deployment of carbon-free technologies and accelerate energy transition on both sides of the Atlantic."

Charlie Dent, Executive Director and Vice President of the Aspen Institute based in Washington DC, took a closer in deploying renewable energies from a U.S. perspective: "The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill is a major step towards the clean energy transition. An initiative of businesses from both sides of the Atlantic will help to build on this groundwork to gain speed and quality both in the U.S. and Germany." Dan Byers, Vice President of the Energy Institute of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, dived deeper into the regulatory situation on the U.S. side and highlighted needs for action. "We need decisions that endure for longer than one legislation period – and we need them now. Both our countries need to align on policies to enable a bidirectional investment flow across the Atlantic ", he said. "We have a lot of opportunities and face common challenges across the pond at the moment – having a platform to identify and work together on these challenges is a great thing."

A closer cooperation between U.S. and Germany is a logical step

One key takeaway from the discussion was that Germany and the U.S. stand at the same point on their way to a more sustainable future. As the two leading market economies in advancing green technologies, they share joint interests, similar issues and common challenges. Sun&Wind Belt wants to build on these connections to bring together companies that can accelerate the deployment of renewable energies by working closer together. In the course of the roundtable, four main pillars for a successful energy transition were identified:

1. Financing the green transformation
2. Effective and reliable regulation
3. Exchange of best practices and innovation
4. Security of Energy supply, geostrategies and security issues

These four pillars define the areas of action in which the Sun&Wind Belt will engage.

Actively advocate policymakers both in the U.S. and Germany

In order to make fast progress in establishing the right standards for enabling a successful energy transition, the Sun&Wind Belt develops proposals for each of the above-mentioned pillars. These proposals serve as a basis to approach policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic with the goal of removing barriers for renewable energy expansion. Alongside this, the Sun&Wind Belt aims at establishing a lively and fruitful transatlantic network by scheduling regular meetings in smaller circles to discuss current topics and work on the concrete action items.

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