Welcome to The Zenergy Podcast! As mentioned on last week’s episode, host Karan Takhar recently had the pleasure of attending DC Climate Week where he sat down with several climate leaders. One of these leaders was Francesco Maria Graziani, Climate and Energy Counsellor and Delegation of the European Union to the United States. In this episode, they discuss Europe’s clean energy goals, its take on critical materials and healthier supply chains, and its transatlantic partnership with the U.S. Francesco provides insight into the drafting of the European Commission’s new renewable energy directive. They discuss how the energy approach in Europe has shifted since the Russia/Ukraine conflict and how Europe is filling in the gap in energy Russia used to supply. They also talk about how the geopolitical shift between the U.S. and the EU has impacted the approach to critical materials as well as how Europe is building and refining its own critical minerals processes. In fact, if you’d like to learn more about the European Commission’s recent selection of ?47 projects to support domestic raw critical materials?, you can click on the link above or visit ec.europa.edu and search for the March 24, 2025 press release. Finally, we end with an optimistic outlook on where Europe is headed in its climate journey. Thanks so much for listening. Don’t forget to hit that subscribe button!

Credits:
Editing/Graphics: Desta Wondirad, Wondir Studios