A conversation with two climate policy experts: A transatlantic perspective.
With Trump's administration upheaving what was once a global consensus - from supporting Ukraine to the Paris Climate Accords - the conversation around climate policy has shifted. Just a few years ago, climate issues dominated elections, and movements like Fridays for Future were at the forefront. Today, security concerns and economic worries have taken priority, while climate change continues to accelerate at an unprecedented pace.
In the U.S., climate policies are no longer a government focus, and there is little pushback from civil society or industry. Big tech is moving away from zero-carbon commitments, and only select states, like California and New York, remain committed to climate action. Across the Atlantic, Europe is facing its own challenges: setbacks such as the weakening of the Green Deal and the simplification omnibus - which aims to ease regulatory burdens but risks diluting key climate measures - are shifting priorities away from ambitious emissions targets.
This discussion brings together leading global climate governance expert Professor Romain Weikmans and sustainability pioneer and author Arnaud Brohé to examine climate policy from both sides of the Atlantic. Through a comparative lens, they will explore the political and business challenges facing the U.S. and the EU, and what opportunities remain to drive meaningful climate action.
speaker
Arnaud Brohé is a recognized expert in climate strategies and policies. His doctoral thesis (ULB) was a critical analysis of carbon markets. He is the founder and CEO of Agendi Inc., a consulting firm specializing in climate and sustainability, with offices in New York, Brussels, London, and Montreal. He is also the author of the Handbook of Carbon Accounting (2016), a reference work on carbon accounting. For over 15 years, he has been advising large companies (many of which are listed in the Fortune 500) and international institutions in the development of ambitious sustainability and climate strategies. In addition to his role at Agendi, Arnaud Brohé frequently speaks at sustainability events and gives lectures at several universities in Europe and the United States.
speaker
Romain Weikmans is an Associate Professor of International Relations at the Free University of Brussels. His main field of research is global climate governance. He has published widely on this topic, including in Nature Climate Change, Climate Policy, and Global Environmental Politics. Coverage of his work can be found in Le Monde, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and various other news outlets. Weikmans earned his Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences and Management from ULB in 2015. He has conducted research and taught at Sciences Po’s Paris School of International Affairs, at Brown University’s Climate and Development Lab (Providence, RI, USA), and at the Environmental Change Institute (Oxford University). He is a lead author of the 2020 UNEP Adaptation Gap Report and a contributing author to the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report (WG2). From 2018 to 2021, Romain Weikmans was the Vice-Chair of the Working Group ‘Energy-Climate’ of the Belgian Federal Council for Sustainable Development. In 2023, he was elected as a Member of the Collegium of the Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium for a five-year term.
