Ciarán HUMPHREYS
Research Fellow – Cleantech, Financial instruments for climate innovationCiarán joined I4CE in 2023, as part of our EU programme. Based in Berlin, he works as a research fellow/project manager on EU climate investment and cleantech, particularly on how to mobilise European financial instruments to accelerate the development and deployment of innovative green technologies across the EU.
In his previous role, Ciarán worked at a climate change think tank E3G as a senior researcher, working on the Fit for 55 package and greening the EU fiscal rules.
Ciarán graduated with a Masters in European Public Policy from the London School of Economics (LSE).
Last contributions
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21/11/2023
Op-ed
Cleantech divide looms in Europe
Investment in the development of the cleantech sector in Europe is too slow and unevenly spread across EU member states and despite its best intentions, it is not clear that the EU’s Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA) will rectify this. Unveiling the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA) earlier this year, Ursula Von Der Leyen declared it would “create the best conditions for those sectors that are crucial for us to reach net-zero by 2050: technologies like wind turbines, heat pumps, solar panels, renewable hydrogen as well as CO2 storage.” -
13/10/2023
Foreword of the week
Climate investment: the French receipe
Climate action is a rich stew with many ingredients. From transport to agriculture, construction to forestry, every part supports the whole. The stew would be incomplete without one crucial but rare addition: public investment. Chefs d’état in Paris and Brussels are currently scratching their heads on how best to add this ingredient to the pot. Two hurdles face them: how to invest enough, and how to guarantee that investment over the long term. In this newsletter, we have translated some of I4CE's analysis to better understand what's going on in the French kitchen, complemented with a dash of a European cleantech investment plan. -
09/10/2023
Blog post
Taking a first STEP towards a cleantech investment plan
The EU’s Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) is an important boost towards unlocking future cleantech public finance. In this blog, Ciarán Humphreys argues that Member States should get behind a European solution. -
15/09/2023
Foreword of the week
From denial to acceptance: Europe’s next step in the cleantech race
Psychologists sometimes talk about the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. One year on from the announcement of the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the European response has looked startlingly similar. Public anger in Brussels at perceived American protectionism. Private sector depression at the prospect of Europe falling behind in the global cleantech race. Denial of the gap between the EU and US efforts, by arguing that that all EU and national spending on cleantech amounts to a conservative estimate of what the IRA offers (while not factoring in the full range of US support).
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13/09/2023
Climate Report
The sharpest tool in the box: how to strenghten the European Union Innovation Fund for climate competitiveness and security
The European Union (EU) Innovation Fund is Europe’s largest fund for climate innovation. It has a keyrole to play in European climate action, energy security and technological leadership. To unleash the full potential of European cleantech, greater public support is needed to help more companies and projects cross the so-called “valleys of death” that are inherent to cleantech innovation and scale-up. In this endeavour, relying solely on national public funds would create two risks. In countries where governments do not rise to the financing challenge, innovators will fail or flee. Conversely, governments with the fiscal means to spend big on cleantech may create a harmful subsidy race among EU member states, undermining EU solidarity and the integrity of the EU Single Market. -
10/05/2023
Blog post
The Net-Zero Industry Act: Designing Europe’s launchpad for a cleantech investment plan
As the world enters a new era of cleantech competition, policymakers must confront two key policy questions - regulation and investment. The Net Zero Industry Act is Europe’s response to the former. Yet key concerns around permitting, sectoral targets and the scope of the Act will need to be addressed if it is to be effective, argue Thomas Pellerin-Carlin and Ciarán Humphreys in this blog post.