Urban Reverb: Living in an Island Age

Anthony: Hello, and welcome to Urban Reverb, the official podcast of the Smart Cities Marketplace, a European initiative financed by the European Commission. I'm Anthony Colclough. “We are living in an island age.” So said Hugh Grant in his role as a charming libertine in ‘About a Boy’ at the beginning of this millennium. As the film demonstrates, however, islands are far from hermetic, and even those who regard themselves as human islands profit from being enriched by, in turn enriching wider communities with shared vision and values. More than two decades later, this is especially evident when it comes to climate change.

This episode of Urban Reverb will be a treasure of island experts, giving us insights into the climate challenges that islands face, and how their experiences can help us rethink our approach throughout Europe.

Those experts are Jan, Maja, Petya and Jorge. 

Jan: Hi, I'm Jan Cornillie. I'm the Global Head of Advisory Services at renewable energy company 3E, and I'm the Director of the Clean Energy for EU Islands Secretariat, an initiative by the European Commission, which supports the clean energy transition on EU islands.

Maja: My name is Maja Jurisic. I'm the President of the Island Movement Association in Croatia.

Petya: My name is Petya Pishmisheva. I work for a city network called Climate Alliance, and I also coordinate the European Covenant of Mayors.

Jorge: My name is Jorge Rodrigues de Almeida. I'm one of the matchmakers under the Smart Cities Marketplace. I also have the privilege to be on the Clean Energy for EU Islands as one of the financial experts.

Islands are in the front of climate change because they are one of the territories that will suffer more from climate change. Islands are a very compact system because it's really hard to make sure that they have a stable energy supply.

Petya: Islands are affected in many different ways by climate change. Most notably the changing sea level rise, changing rainfall patterns, of course, the increase of temperature, but also more and more water scarcity intensifying the wildfires that we, unfortunately, witnessed in in Italian and Greek islands last year.

Maja: We see that the European Union is supporting lots of innovations in digital and green transformations, but understanding of the whole transition and lack of human capacities to make this development as well as rigid legislation within each country needs to be adapted to the changes in the European level.

Jan: If you look at the European islands, well, they're almost completely petrol powered, for the transport, mobility on the island, mobility to and from the island, for the heating and cooling, for the electricity system, it's based on petrol.

I mean, I was on La Palma, and there you have in the harbour this petrol-fired power station that spews the, you know, the smoke, basically, almost to the city centre. And you say, like, ‘How is this possible?’ And we know, you know, we cannot do without it now, but the plan should be to move out of it. 

Jorge: We are talking about lovely islands. We have been in Greece, for instance, with lovely islands, the lovely sea, and we have seen that public authorities and private stakeholders, are investing in this transition. We see on the ground electrical vehicles, PV power plants, we see them thinking about energy efficiency, being pushed both by the private and the public sector.

Jan: Many of the islands have a special status, in terms of the energy markets. They are not bound by the rules of the liberalised energy market that is applicable on the mainland. The nations, the mainland to which they belong promised that they have the same tariff as on the mainland. Because otherwise, energy provision would be very, very expensive on these islands. 

We have worked with the Island of San Pietro, which is an Italian island off the coast of a bigger island, Sardinia. We see that this kind of leverage effect is taking place, where a local municipality, or local authority, creates the conditions in which private investors come in. The solar farm, the wind farm is being established and, as a result, a step forward in clean energy transition to stable production of electricity at constant or stable prices.

Petya: Islands can differ greatly from one another, even when they belong to the same archipelago. Not only due to their size or their distance from the mainland but also their microclimatic condition, population or density.

And, undisputedly, there are a number of specificities of islands that are not inherent to the local authorities on the continent. One of the maybe biggest differences is the access to electricity.

This is why the energy transition in islands is a good learning ground for the development of renewable energies. There is quite a lot of innovation taking place, for example, very advanced pilots on the use of wave energy, but also how to best combine the use of renewable energy sources, like solar, wind, tidal, or hydro.

And while we speak of decarbonisation efforts, we shouldn't forget that the islands are ecosystems that are extremely fragile and are susceptible to climate change. That's why adaptation action is so important. So, saying this, integrated planning that encompasses both decarbonisation efforts and adaptation action is incredibly important.

Jan: The energy transition on islands, it's never easy. You need a lot of coordination between different actors, even for purely private investments. I give two examples: We know that take the Canary Islands, which have abundant sun and could power the island with solar energy for a large part, but obviously, when the sun goes down, this poses a certain challenge, so how do you deal with that? And one of the solutions that has become affordable is to put in batteries.

There's also in a way a societal challenge because, you know, the people who live on islands are, you know, some people that have for generations been living on islands, but there's also quite a few newcomers who, for tourism reasons or because they, in a phase of life, they are looking for the island life, for the island calm. And so, the people on islands don't all have the same motivation to be there. 

Jorge: If you group the procurement, you will have a larger scale and you will become much more interesting for the investors. For this grouping or bundling of projects, you will need standardisation and you need to think from that perspective from the beginning. So, islands must come together because that will give a larger scale and that will help to bring down transaction costs.

There are challenges when it comes to legal requirements. Sometimes we have very close islands, and somehow that the procurement could be done by both of them, but they are from two countries or two independent regions. And that complicates things because the regulatory framework sometimes it's different and so that scares people that want to invest.

Jan: We have our annual forum, so it's the Clean Energy for EU Islands forum, which we always hold on an island. And every year we get complaints from other islanders, or people on the mainland saying ‘It's far and it's hard to get to.’ And we say, ‘Yeah, well, that's exactly what it is to be on an island.’

Anthony: Though islands are a few steps ahead of us in terms of experiencing the effects of climate change, they are up against a number of difficulties in their transition to renewable energy, whether logistical, economic, or social. Our experts have explained that overcoming these challenges requires public and private investments, more standardised approaches, and deeper collaboration within and among islands. Another point that was mentioned briefly was differing demographics, both between islands and the mainland and between different islands themselves. Maja, the president of the Island Movement Association in Croatia, hammers this demographic issue home with the personal stories of two sets of elderly island dwellers who had to face the question: ‘If I put the effort into going sustainable, will I still be on this earth long enough to reap the fruits of my labour?’

Maja: When we were establishing the cooperative on the island of Cres and the owners of the land where we want to develop the solar power plant were two old people where they had this land and they wanted to make an added value to the land, not only to sell the land as itself.

So, it was very emotional seeing them becoming members of the cooperative and strongly believing in this. So not only selling the land to the cooperative, but also becoming part of the development project and continuing to follow this project.

So, this is something that was, like seeing people how they are believing in the community, at first, and seeing also people, which is very rare, unfortunately, in these days, who believe that there is something more than only money and the land. There is value in this social moment of getting together and developing the project together.

The other thing that was on the other side, let's say, a little bit sad, but let's say, depends on how you look at it, is when we had a workshop on one of the islands and one of the old people, also older people because let's face it that most of the house owners on the islands are the older people who are hoping that their children are at some time coming back and going to continue to manage the real estate that they have. But they are still hoping. And now they are facing the situation that they should make an energy efficiency or put solar panels on their house, which is a very big investment. And when you put it on the paper, among us who are, let's say, younger in our 30s or 40s, and we are talking about, ‘Ah this is an investment of only seven to 10 years where the money is going to come back.’

Talking with someone who is 70 is not the same thing. So, for them, talking about the return on investment of 10 years means, until they're still alive. So their way of how they think about the investment in the energy transition was, ‘Look, I would rather go on vacation and invest money in travelling the world rather than thinking about what is going to happen with the energy and the energy market in the next seven to 10 years.’

So in a way, it was sad: we don't know who is going to manage this house, but on the other side, if they are looking like this, then it's good for them. So, the thing is that the children of the people who own the houses on the islands should start to think about their future.

Anthony: When we consider how to sculpt the future of Europe, it’s worth taking into account the words of one of Europe’s greatest sculptors, Michelangelo: ‘The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.’ 

Europe’s islands are aiming high, an effort parallel to the EU Mission for 100 Climate Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030. As with this mission, it’s a moonshot expected to deliver pathways for local governments of all sizes across Europe to outstrip what they thought was possible, and in this instance too, the Smart Cities Marketplace is on the ground lending a hand. 

Jorge: On the islands, we have selected 30 islands to become 100% renewable by 2030. And for those 30 islands, in the Clean energy for EU islands we are providing them with technical assistance because they have this lack of knowledge. They highlighted in their proposals saying, ‘Okay, we need support on this topic or that topic.’ And that's why we are trying to put experts with that know-how to go to the island to work with them hand in hand and help them build capacity and deliver those projects. There is always a lack of people in this type of organisation, so they have a lot of work on their hands. They need to know where to start, how to start, what they need to do, and then they can move forward.

Jan: Yeah, so in the third phase of the Clean Energy for EU Islands Secretariat, we will assist and collaborate, work together with islands to become 100% renewable energy powered. We took it as a vision. I mean, even if we get there 95% or 90%, it's not really about the bean counting. It's about the vision long term on the islands where we want to show that it's possible to become 100% renewable energy powered.

Maja: I would say that everything you write down as a vision on the paper is, impossible until it becomes possible. So, to have good visions which look impossible is the, let's say, the goal of the vision. I would say that everything at the end comes to the people and the will and understanding of the people that everything that the European Union has put in front of us is sounding impossible, and it's going to be much slower than we want, but on the other side so it's going to be interesting to follow, to learn, on our own mistakes, but also on the processes of other successful examples. 

Jan: Sometimes it is said that, you know, islands are perfect places for experimentation. Now, we are a bit hesitant to confirm that kind of vision, because that's a very mainland vision. It's their life, it's their community, it's their island. So it's not an experimental ground. It's a living community that wants to become climate neutral, and it faces a certain number of these challenges, which innovation can help solving, and that's, I think, where it's becoming interesting.

Maja: What is the most important regarding the this wave that we see that is going to happen is that we continue to work with the local communities, but also communication towards the investors regarding including local communities into their projects. Because if they are going to run by themselves, they are going very soon to be left by themselves, and the energy transition and the transition that we are talking about is not something that can be led by itself.

Anthony: We’ve heard the importance of community mentioned more than once throughout this episode. This need to bring everyone to the table to combat climate change is something my guests have stressed in previous episodes too. On the islands, it seems, this community element holds an even stronger impetus, and therefore a great potential to inform the approach to engagement across Europe as a whole.

Jan: There is the element of innovation in, especially on the non-interconnected islands that don't have the backup off of the interconnections, there is this degree of experimentation, of innovation. But it has to be community-led. 

Maja: Currently we are having good public, citizens, partnerships, where it's recognised the importance of the local authorities to include their communities and develop energy communities and energy cooperatives together with local communities. 

Regarding the private, they are still offering old fashioned business models. Let's say in a way, like, they are going to develop a big project in your community and we are going to build you like a playground, for example. This is, I would say, old fashioned cooperation.

I would emphasise the establishment of the Energy Cooperative Absirtides on the island of Cres a few years ago because this is how we started actually to try to show with examples how the local community can act together. This is where both cities on the archipelago of Cres and Lošinj were leading the process of establishing the energy cooperative on the islands, inviting all the people, community associations, and local entrepreneurs to become the founders where the founders of the cooperative are going to be the owners of the solar power plant as well as the owners of the profit at the end.

Petya: If I'm to pick one element of what we can learn from islands, of course, there are many things, but if I'm to choose and focus on one, that would be the participatory processes. The processes of including local stakeholders, we observe are oftentimes more advanced in an island context.

In the case of the Canary Islands, the Canary Islands are eight main islands and all municipalities are Covenant [of Mayors] signatories without exception. That's covering more than 100 municipalities. The regional governments support the process at the local level and ensure the sustainability of the efforts in the long term, and they also provide dedicated funding, which of course is of critical importance for action to take place.

On the other hand, the Canary Islands Institute of Technology is providing technical support for the development of the action plans, like the inventories, and the risk and vulnerability assessment, so that the planning process is running smoothly and is supported.

This collaboration normally takes time, and it takes effort, so it's important that the local stakeholders take ownership of this process and that its development and progress remain in their hands. 

Jorge: Islands, that are more successful, usually engage with the stakeholders and the citizens. They engage with them in the process. So when they are developing their strategy, they start engaging with the population of the island so that everyone agrees on the result where they want to go. And this makes things much easier at the end because the population is aligned with the process. Because they are surrounded by the ocean, they have a usually from my experience, a really strong connection to the place where they live or they work.

Sustainability is all about a local process because one of the pillars of sustainability is the economic pillar and social, point. We also see a lot of small companies dedicated to their island with their small business, that can help on the energy transition, these bike tours, et cetera. Bear in mind that, if you have a diesel power plant in the island, if you have a small island, you have a place that will be noisy and will have smoke. So even for the islanders, it's much beautiful to adopt this clean transition. 

Anthony: If community, business, and other stakeholders are essential, as I believe my guests have gotten across, it’s also essential to remember the vital role of local leaders who bring everyone together to form a shared vision, and to give that vision its momentum. As I hope has also become clear, it’s also important in the context of islands not to imagine that all this work is a question of keeping up with the mainland – islanders have every reason not just to reach but even to outstrip climate neutrality. The example Jan is about to share from Halki is emblematic of the enthusiasm and ambition of many dedicated island mayors, who see not only the immediate danger posed by climate change, but also the outsized benefits that tackling it can bring.

Jan: In Halki a small island off the coast, it's actually 13 islands, the community of Halki off the coast of Rodus, which is the bigger tourism island, and, you have this mayor and he's very passionate energetic and he wants to make his local authority of 13 islands, of which I think 10 are uninhabited, a clean energy powerhouse. He says, like, I want to create clean energy on my island and export it, to Rhodes and elsewhere through the interconnections that are being built.

And that's also, a vision you can have. It’s great to see local mayors on these faraway islands that are enthusiastic about the clean energy transition on their islands and try to make make good business and good economics out of it.

Anthony: Like Hugh Grant’s character in About a Boy, I’ve learned today that the island metaphor is just that – a figure of speech: Europe’s islands are integrally connected to the vision and ambition of the rest of the EU. But we managed that revelation in just 20 minutes, rather than the hour and a half that the movie takes, albeit perhaps with fewer laughs and emotional ups and downs. If anyone from the Academy Awards is listening, you can reach out to the Smart Cities Marketplace, find the transcript of this and other episodes, and much more at smart-cities-marketplace.ec.europa.eu. To learn more about the work on EU islands, you can also check out the website clean-energy-islands.ec.europa.eu. The Smart Cities Marketplace and this podcast are an initiative of the European Commission. Thanks for listening.